


longer than our lives endure (you're my forever fall)

by fangirlsanity



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Drama & Romance, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, X-Men AU - Freeform, a story about mutants that shows very little mutant powers, but not as much as chanhun, everyone is a mess, feat jang wonyoung from izone as kyungsoos sister, fucking with time feat Tao, implied xiuyeol - Freeform, junmyeon and sehun are brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-12-31 23:58:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 30,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18324584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlsanity/pseuds/fangirlsanity
Summary: de·ter·min·ism/dəˈtərməˌnizəm/nounthe doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will.Sehun is a new transfer to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Unbeknownst to him, his life has changed in ways he couldn't predict.





	1. Origins

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [kpopolymfics2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/kpopolymfics2019) collection. 



> This fic was written for K-Pop Olymfics 2019 as part of Team Alternate Universe 1. Olymfics is a challenge in which participants write fics based on prompt sets and compete against other teams of writers, organized by genre. Competition winners are chosen by the readers, so please rate this fic using [this survey](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchoxsmlZ8hnOBj1Dt11JlU6OkFsVmW7jhuvuGbjkUuMQ1v-g/viewform)!
> 
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> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
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>  **WJSN – "Save Me, Save You"**  
> [lyrics](https://colorcodedlyrics.com/2018/09/cosmic-girls-wjsn-ujusonyeo-save-save-butaghae) **|** [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wOBbRu3OOc) **|** [supplementary](https://www.flickr.com/photos/beansshots/11503096704/) \- [prompts](https://66.media.tumblr.com/9e7ea4af8b58779af3a305b386aa81fc/tumblr_p2mf4xIINk1v2useeo1_640.gif)

Puberty sucked. But it sucked especially if you were a mutant.

 

Oh Sehun would come to realize this in the aftermath of a small tornado hat destroyed a good chunk of his school. Luckily, no one suspected it was him. After all, no one would suspect that Oh Sehun, coming from his ultra conservative, anti-mutant background would suddenly wake up to his own powers. No, they simply dismissed him with a shake of the head. The government descended upon the school shortly afterward, and he along with the other students were allowed to leave while the school was being investigated. Cause what better place to send a student after a mild disaster than to the safety of their own home?

 

Not for Sehun, whose parents had made it quite clear as to their stance on mutants. He couldn’t even laugh at the irony. He was sent away to be safe but in reality he was being sent to a different type of hell.

 

The fear that his parents would do to him what they did to Junmyeon permeated through his mind. They kicked him out, disowned him, and condemned him on national television when his own powers were starting to show.

 

After all, having mutant children would look bad on anti-mutant politicians.

 

“Mutants,” his father spat as they drove home after the incident. “Destroying our schools. Destroying our way of life.”

 

His mother, who sat in the backseat with him, shushed his father and collected Sehun in her arms. “Stop mentioning it. Sehun doesn’t need you spouting that right now after what he’s went through.”

 

“It’s not nonsense,” his father said with gritted teeth. “It’s fact. Mutants are unnatural and threaten our way of life. There is something we can do once I get into office. More restrictions. Or else more incidents like this will—”

 

“Honey,” Sehun’s mom said, exasperated. “Not. Right. Now. I don’t want to talk about politics while our child is still in shock.”

 

Sehun heard his father sigh, and he buried his face into his mother’s shoulder.

 

It was these moments in particular that made him miss Junmyeon.

 

Luckily for him, his parents didn’t bat an eye when he went straight to his room and shut the door. He went to his bed and stuck an arm under his bed. He rooted around in there for a few moments before his hand seized his prize. He pulled out a wooden box, medium in size. He opened it and found his passport, a large wad of cash that he had saved over the years doing odd jobs, and a burner phone. He picked it up and turned it on with shaky fingers.

 

Along with the box, Sehun crawled to the corner of his room furthest from his door, sandwiched between his bed and the desk.

 

There was only one contact. He pressed call.

 

One ring. Two.

 

The unmistakable click of someone picking up the phone.

 

“Sehun-ah?” he heard a voice asked. And it was a voice he hadn’t heard for the better part of three years.

 

The voice of his brother, Junmyeon.

 

“H-hyung—” Sehun tried to say, but his feelings over the stress of the day had won out over his greeting. He slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his cries. The last thing he needed was his worried mother to barge in.

 

“Sehun,” Junmyeon asked, growing worried. “What happened?”

 

“It happened,” Sehun said, brokenly. “I’m scared.”

 

Nothing else was said between them for a moment, the only noise being Sehun’s cries.

 

“Do you want to come here?” Junmyeon asked quietly.

 

Yes, Sehun wanted to cry out. To scream. Anywhere was better than this godforsaken house. A weak “please” was what came out instead.

 

“I’ll talk to Professor Xavier. He won’t say no. But I’m going to fight for you, okay? You’ll be safe here, I promise. Do you have enough money to get a plane ticket?”

 

Sehun nodded, even if his brother couldn’t see him.

 

“Get a ticket for three days from now. I’ll figure something out. Everything is going to be okay,” Junmyeon said soothingly.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

There were points during his journey where he wondered if perhaps leaving suddenly was the right thing to do.

 

He wondered if his parents saw his note already. If they cared, or if they were outraged that not one but both of their children were mutant freaks.

 

Ripples of guilt permeated through his entire being. He felt bad for the people that he was leaving behind. His family. His friends. A whole life he was leaving behind.

 

And then he saw that Junmyeon was sitting at the steps of Xavier’s School. He was immediately engulfed in an embrace as soon as he stepped out of the cab. It had been three years since he had seen his brother, no distance between them.

 

“I missed you, little brother,” Junmyeon mumbled in his hair. The words and the warmth of the embrace made Sehun’s heart soar. A little part of

 

Yeah, Sehun thought as he buried himself into Junmyeon’s arms, he made the right choice.

 

The two brothers stood at the steps for a while. Sehun definitely didn’t cry.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

He sat in a fancy office. It was like an office he would see in the movies, incredibly fancy, covered in warm browns and mahogany oak wood. Various degrees ran along one wall as well as many pictures of Professor Xavier with Sehun assumed were Very Influential People.

 

“Do you want a cup of water, Mr. Oh?” Professor Xavier asked, catching his attention. Professor Xavier sat in front of him, hands intertwined on the desk. “You probably need something after a long journey to a new country.”

 

Sehun thought he had a very nice voice. It was soothing, and it was already loads different from his father.

 

Sehun shook his head, not trusting himself to speak.

 

Professor Xavier nodded, he flashed a smile at Sehun. He felt himself get hot under the attention. He had heard of Charles Xavier, who dedicated his life to the rights and livelihood of mutants. Who was the mastermind behind the formation and the running of the X-Men. Sehun had looked up to him when he was a child, despite his parents’ hatred for mutants. And, when Junmyeon ran away, he felt better knowing that Professor Xavier had taken his brother under his wing.

 

“Do you like New York, Sehun?” Professor Xavier asked. “Or have you not have a chance to look around?”

 

Sehun shrugged, he looked away. “I came straight here from the airport. But there’s—there’s a lot of tall buildings.”

 

“Maybe one of these days we could show you around, hmm?”

 

Sehun nodded, “I’d like that a lot.”

 

“You know, your brother told me a lot about you,” Professor Xavier hummed.

 

“What did he say?”

 

“He said that you have a lot of potential. And that you were smart. He also said that you were afraid. Why is that?”

 

“My parents…” he sighed, “My parents are very anti-mutant. They didn’t hesitate to try to report Junmyeon to the authorities, which is why he ran away. And I was just… I was scared too.”

 

“There’s nothing wrong with being scared,” Professor Xavier soothed. “There are people that can be… less than pleasant towards mutants. But it must be hard when those are your parents.”

 

Sehun nodded, “But it’s more than that.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“I was afraid of my parents, yes. But I’m also afraid… of me.”

 

“Why do you think that?”

 

“I didn’t even tell Junmyeon this, but the reason why my powers got out of control wasn’t random.”

 

“Take your time, Mr. Oh. As long as you need.”

 

“It was right after PE,” Sehun began. “And there’s these group of guys that always pick on this one kid because he’s deaf.” He took deep breaths, feeling the anger rise up in his chest again. “They always do dumb stuff like take his clothes and throw them in the toilet. So the kid had to always bring a second change of clothes. But this time they were playing keep away with him. I couldn’t see it at first but when I realized what was happening I couldn’t stand it anymore.” Sehun’s emotions bubbled up and materialized themselves into the tears that were starting to leak from his eyes. “They were playing keep away with his hearing aids. And his ears were bleeding because they ripped them out.”

 

Professor Xavier remained silent, which Sehun didn’t know if he was grateful for.

 

“And I got so angry,” he continued. “So helpless. I wanted to do something but what good would that do? They would just pick on him when I was gone, anyways. But I hated it. I hated it. I wanted to explode, and then I guess I kind of did. Because all of a sudden there was a gust of wind even though we were inside. And then the windows shattered, and then the wind became stronger and stronger and—”

 

Sehun sobbed. “It was me. I knew it was me. It couldn’t have been anyone else.”

 

The only sound in the room was the sound of Sehun’s cries. He put his head in his hands and sobbed. It was all his fault. Because of who he was, his DNA, he brought misery to the people around him. Not for the first time, he wished that he didn’t exist.

 

Sehun couldn’t tell, but Professor Xavier wheeled his way over to him. He startled when he felt a soft touch to his arm, pulling his hand away from his face. Professor Xavier’s face was soft, and understanding. He probably came across this a lot with other students. And years of listening to them likely gave him the tools to help a troubled teenager.

 

“That must have been hard, Mr. Oh,” he said softly. Sehun could do nothing more than nod. He had trouble swallowing through the lump in his throat.

 

“And it might not feel like it now, but your power isn’t a curse. It isn’t a disability. It’s a gift,” Professor Xavier explained. He held both of Sehun’s hands, palms face up. “And with any gift, you can either accept it,” he held up Sehun’s right hand. “Or you can reject it,” he took Sehun’s left hand and curled it up into a fist. “Whatever happens is up to you. If you choose to reject it, then you are rejecting part of yourself. And that turmoil can manifest itself into the uncontrollable burst of power you felt in that moment.”

 

He unfurled Sehun’s fist and brought his hands together, in a praying motion. “But when we accept it as something that we are then you can find yourself peace. This power doesn’t make up your whole identity, it only makes up a part of you.”

 

Sehun just stared at his hands.

 

“Your powers aren’t a label that has to brand you forever. I am not just Professor X of the X-men, I am also an actual professor. An activist. A teacher and a mentor. Your brother isn’t defined by his powers either. He is a straight A student. A protective older brother. A kind person. Why should you be the exception? Because you a mistake?”

 

Now Sehun was crying for a different reason. He let Professor Xavier’s words fill him up, change him, bring him out of the darkness.

 

“That’s part of the reason that I opened up this school, to teach future generations that they don’t need to be ashamed of themselves. To help them take control of their powers and help them lead the lives that they want to lead. I wouldn’t have let your brother wake me up in the middle of the night to convince me to take you in if I believed you had real ill in your heart.”

 

He looked up from his hands and locked eyes with Professor Xavier, sincerity exuded from his being. Sehun found it in himself to smile back. The feeling of his chest caving in had calmed. And his beating heart became steady. He sniffed and rubbed at his eyes. He felt himself become red in embarrassment. He never cried in front of everyone, minus Junmyeon. Especially towards someone he had just met. How could he show weakness to a man he admired very much?

 

Professor Xavier put a hand on Sehun’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Sehun took a deep breath, he nodded at Professor Xavier, indicating that he was feeling alright.

 

Professor Xavier rolled back to his desk. He folded his hands on top of the large wooden surface and had that air of professionalism again. Like nothing had happened. For some reason, Sehun felt relieved that no further attention was drawn to his breakdown. Even though his eyes felt swollen and his nose felt raw from the rubbing.

 

“Something I usually assign to new student your age is a personal essay,” Professor Xavier explained. “It doesn’t have a word count requirement and I don’t expect something of a thesis level. You can write as much or as little as you want. But since you are going to be living here amongst others like you, I encourage students to take it seriously and truly look within themselves for the answer.”

 

It took everything within Sehun not to sulk. It wasn’t surprising though, he was here to continue his education in a safe place after all. But more than that it was a place for troubled teens as well. Those who felt isolated and alone during a truly tumultuous adolescence. Giving teens his age an assignment to force them to look into themselves was probably a good idea.

 

But he couldn’t help but think that it was kind of lame that he already had assignment before he had a chance to settle in.

 

“I know I might seem ‘lame’ to assign homework before you even started school,” Professor Xavier said with a sly smirk. Sehun flushed, he forgot that he could read minds. “But this one doesn’t really have a due date. It’s just a jumping point for you to start thinking about your future. In fact, I assigned one other student the same assignment and six months later he simply put ‘To be better than you’,” he laughed at that. Sehun found himself chuckling along as well.

 

“Who was that?” Sehun asked.

 

“He’s in your year, actually. So I’m sure you’ll meet him soon.”

 

Professor Xavier smiled. It was soft. And kind.

 

Up until now, Sehun wasn’t exactly used to kind. The only true kind he experienced came from his brother, and he had been deprived of that for years. So seeing this from a man he had just met threw him off a little bit. He felt his cheeks heat up under the attention.

 

“Just think about it, okay Mr. Oh?” Professor X asked.

 

Sehun nodded. But it was easier said than done.

 

“Now, two doors down is Professor Summers’ office. He’s our guidance councilor. He will make your schedule for your first day tomorrow.”

 

.

 

.

 

.

Sehun, as expected, couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was a combination of the fact that he was staying in a whole other country and the anticipation of starting school tomorrow. He had never been excited to started school, maybe because he was a typical teenage boy. When Junmyeon was kicked out of the house when his powers started showing up he dreaded going to school more and more. He went to school every day in fear that maybe today was the day that he would be found out for being a mutant.

 

But now that he was in New York, now that it had happened, there was a significant amount of weight lifted off of his chest. He was going to be around people who understood what he was going through and would help him navigate all of this bullshit.

 

But he couldn’t help but admit that he was incredibly nervous.

 

Sure, he was among people that were in his position, but what if he was still he one who didn’t quite fit in? At his old school, he was basically ostracized for having a relative who was a mutant, mostly out of fear that he was one, too. He was also the type of person who kept to himself anyways. He never had time or energy to put into relationships. Any acquaintances or maybe-friends that he had became nonexistent as soon as the news broke out.

 

What if, now that he didn’t have the stigma of being a mutant that he was still as much of a loner as he was when he was back home?

 

The thought bothered him, especially since he knew he couldn’t latch onto his brother while he was here. His brother was always a social butterfly, always seemed to know how to take care of people and gained their respect.

 

Sehun rubbed his hair angrily and threw the covers off of his bed. If he was going to be kept up, there was no use to just laying in bed and hoping for sleep. He got up and paced around his room for a while, but that somehow made him even more restless. He could feel his eyelids droop and his body beg for sleep but his mind was screaming with thousands of thoughts.

 

He looked out the window, which led to a direct view into the courtyard. It was only illuminated by lamps and moonlight. It seemed appealing to him.

 

It was stupid, but he thought that it was calling to him somehow.

 

He grabbed his jacket and, as quietly as he could, exited his and Junmyeon’s shared bedroom.

 

.

 

.

 

.

It was odd how similar things looked at night, Sehun thought, if he wasn’t aware that he was in New York, he would have thought he was still back in Korea. Down to their core elements in his courtyard, he guessed.

 

He scoffed and shook his head, these were just sleepy thoughts. He kept wandering around for a few moments, simply liking the cool air against his skin. There was something about the weather that made him feel nostalgic.

 

It was right now that Sehun allowed himself miss home. But he couldn’t regret leaving. He knew that if he had stayed home, he knew that his parents would have turned him in to the government. He would be stuck in some underground lab and tested on to see how the mutant gene worked. He would be nothing more than a subject, He would cease to be Oh Sehun.

 

Sehun sighed and pulled his jacket tighter against his body, yes, he thought. This was definitely for the best.

 

He was startled out of his thoughts when he heard a soft noise in the distance. Was someone playing music out here?

 

He furrowed his brows and got up from the bench to follow the music. The music got louder and louder until he spied a figure in the distance unnaturally dark red hair wearing a black jacket. He seemed really into this playing, as the person hadn’t acknowledged Sehun’s presence.

 

The playing was beautiful, even though Sehun didn’t recognize the song.

 

The person stopped and rested guitar his chest. His shoulder lifting and falling as if they heaved a huge sigh. Sehun, possibly against his better judgment, stepped closer until he got a better look at the person’s face.

 

It was another guy, he realized, possibly the same age as him or around it. His large ears peeked out under his hat in a way that Sehun could admit was pretty adorable.

 

He stepped on some crunchy leaves and attracted the guy’s attention. The guy whipped in his direction and regarded him with wide eyes. They blinked at each other for a few moments before Sehun gave him a small wave.

 

“Hi,” he mumbled. “You’re pretty good.”

 

The guy simply blinked again before, oddly, his guitar was set on fire. Sehun let out what was most definitely a manly scream. The guy jumped up and threw his guitar down at the pavement before using his jacket to tamper down the flames.

 

When the fire was gone, Sehun stepped closer to the boy to inspect the damage. The guitar, however, looked almost pristine, save for some small burn marks on the edges. He looked at the boy with confused furrowed brows. And, as if sensing his confusion, the boy just rubbed at the back of his neck.

 

“It happens more often than I’d like,” the boy explained, his deep voice cut through the silence of the night much like his guitar did. “Professor Summers got sick of having to throw out guitars and got someone to somehow spray it down with fireproof stuff.”

 

Sehun hummed, nodding along. “So, fire, huh?”

 

The boy smiled, a white and perfect arrangement of teeth greeted him. “Yep. My roommate hates it when I play in the dorm so I have to play it out here. It’s the only time I have free, anyway. In between all of the school stuff.”

 

Sehun pursed his lips, “I see.”

 

The boy nodded, “You’re the new kid here, right? Just starting tomorrow?”

 

Sehun nodded, “Yeah. Just came in today.”

 

The boy’s eyes brightened. “That’s cool! You’ll love it here. I was afraid of starting here myself. But everyone that works here genuinely cares and stuff so…” He rubbed the back of his head, a blush crept up his cheeks and to the tip of his ears. It could have been the light though. “Just trust me, yeah? It’ll be okay. Everyone here is in more or less the same boat.”

 

“Good to hear,” Sehun said, giving him a small smile.

 

The boy returned the smile, a bit sadder. “Kinda makes me wish that there was something like this back home,” he sighed. “I sort of wish that I didn’t have to go to a different country.”

 

Sehun shrugged, “I’m just glad there IS something like this. It’s better than the alternative.”

 

The boy nodded, and they stood in silence for a little before the boy picked up his guitar and slung it over his shoulder.

 

“It’s pretty late,” he said. “You should get some rest too for your first day.” He gave a wave, “See you around, dude.”

 

Sehun nodded and gave the boy a wave before he started walking away. Suddenly, he stopped and turned around to Sehun. “By the way,” he began, giving Sehun another too-bright smile, “everything is going to be fine. You’re going to do great.”

 

He watched as the boy walked away, disappearing in the shadows until Sehun was left alone under the lamplight. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked back to the dorm.

 

.

 

.

 

.

Sehun was relieved when he saw that Junmyeon was still sleeping by the time he came back. He smirked to himself, looks like his midnight foray would be a secret. He quietly took off his jacket and set it on the desk chair.

 

He sneakily put himself back into the covers and settled his head onto the pillow.

 

“You’re not as sneaky as you think, little brother,” Junmyeon said, eyes still closed.

 

Sehun almost fell off the bed, “Hyung?” he asked. “How did you—”

 

“You’ve gotten sloppy over the years, Sehun-ah,” Junmyeon huffed. “You’re gonna have to be a little more quiet-footed if you wanna sneak. Although I’ve gotten better at detecting when someone is trying to sneak around. We do have someone here that can turn invisible. Kitty Pride can go through walls. That was a fun time.”

 

Sehun frowned, “I forgot that I hate how much of a goody-two-shoes you are.”

 

Junmyeon opened his eyes and turned to his brother, giving him a sleepy smile. “Don’t lie. You’ve missed it.”

 

Sehun huffed. “Maybe. Possibly.”

 

Junmyeon snorted, “Whatever you say, you’re going to be whistling a different tune around exams. I have quite the pull with the other teachers here, you know.”

 

He snorted, “Why do I find that so easy to believe?”

 

“But why were you out so late, though?”

 

“Why? Worried?”

 

Junmyeon shrugged. “I’m not. This place is pretty secure, and you’re pretty unfamiliar with New York to risk sneaking out.”

 

Sehun sighed. “That’s true. I’m just nervous, I guess. New country, new school, newly awakened mutant powers that I don’t have 100% control over. You know, the usual.”

 

“Sehun-ah. Don’t forget that you have me. And you’re a good kid, you’ll make plenty of good friends. And all of the professors will help you too. You should talk to Professor Munroe when you have the time. I’m sure she will be able to help you control it.”

 

“You think I should have STORM from the X-MEN to help me?”

 

Junmyeon shrugged, “It’s just a suggestion. Now go to sleep.”

 

Sehun fell back onto his pillows again with a sigh. After his talk with the weird boy in the courtyard and his brother, he felt a little better about his predicament. He closed his eyes and relaxed on his bed.

 

‘You’re going to do great,’ echoed in his head as he sunk deeper and deeper into slumber.

 

.

 

.

 

.

He woke up to find the bed next to him empty. Sehun frowned, he would have thought that his brother would have made a big deal about his first day at school here. His mind flashed back to when he started primary school and middle school, Junmyeon was more excited than their parents. He took so many pictures and got them professionally developed and framed.

 

Sehun frowned, he wondered if those pictures would still be there, when his parents realized what he did.

 

He jumped when he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

 

He looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was 6:58am. Classes didn’t start until 8am. Who the heck would want to bother him this early?

 

He groaned and threw his blankets off of him. He blearily made his way over to the door. He wrenched it open, trying his best to not bite the head off of the unwanted visitor.

 

He was greeted by another boy, slightly shorter than him. He had thick rimmed glasses and he looked way put together for this early in the morning. Sehun’s jaw clenched in annoyance. The other boy had his hand raised, presumably to knock on the door once more. Upon seeing Sehun, he blinked a few times behind his large frames. The boy pushed up his glasses, his hand covering up the flush that was blooming on his cheeks.

 

“M-my name is Kyungsoo,” the boy stuttered. “Your brother is cramming for an exam that he has later today, so he asked me to give you a tour of the school and show you where your classes are.”

 

“Oh,” he said. He looked down and saw his state of dress. He was still wearing his ratty t-shirt that he used to sleep. And he wasn’t wearing pajama bottoms, so he was just standing in front of a total stranger in those comical white boxers with the large red hearts. “I’ll change and I’ll be right out!”

 

He slammed the door in Kyungsoo’s face and scrambled to find clothes suitable for his first day of school. Some first impression.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

 

 

“So how do you know my brother?” he asked in between Kyungsoo’s explanations.

 

“He tutors me in calculus sometimes. He’s very smart,” he commented.

 

Sehun nodded, a proud feeling settled in his stomach. Damn straight.

 

They stopped in front of an open door where other students were starting to file in. The bell rang to signal the start of the school day.

 

“I’ll meet you out here when class is over,” Kyungsoo said. “And I’ll give you more of the tour, okay?”

 

Sehun nodded, fiddling with a backpack strap. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

 

Kyungsoo laid a hand on his shoulder. The weight of his hand was oddly comforting, like it settled the storm that was brewing inside of him. He gave Sehun a soft smile, “You’re going to do great.”

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

His first ever class in Xavier’s School is okay. It was a math class. Apparently math was the same for mutants. He was forced to make one of those embarrassing introductions in front of the class. Luckily, no one asked what his power was. He took the one empty seat in the classroom, right in between a boy with bleach blonde hair and another boy with pink hair.

 

Sehun found himself zoning out, overwhelmed by how odd yet how normal it all seemed. The teacher, Professor Drake, droned on and on about numbers.

 

“The answer is 36,” the blonde boy said, bringing Sehun out of his reverie.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Professor Drake is going to call on you. Say 36.”

 

Before Sehun could ask any more questions, Professor Drake caught his attention.

 

“Mr. Oh,” he said, gesturing to the equation on the white board that Sehun was certainly not paying attention to. “Using the method you learned in class, what would you say the answer is?”

 

“36,” Sehun answered, more like a question. Not even thinking about whether or not the boy next to him was joking around.

 

Professor Drake looked between Sehun and the blonde boy. He rolled his eyes. “That’s right,” he sighed. “But next time don’t help him, okay, Mr. Huang?”

 

The blonde boy shrugged, and Professor Drake turned back to the board.

 

“I’m Tao, by the way,” the blonde boy whispered. “If you wanted to know the name of the person who saved you from first day humiliation.”

 

“Tao just likes to give out life spoilers,” snickered the pink haired boy on his other side. “Don’t get used to it.”

 

Sehun tilted his head curiously.

 

“I’m Luhan,” the pink-haired boy introduced. “Welcome to Xavier’s School. Hope you survive the experience.”

 

 

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Sehun observed Kyungsoo taking out his phone and smiling fondly at the screen. It was of a pretty girl, definitely younger than him. Her long hair swept to one side as she posed in her school uniform in front of a beige wall.

 

“Who is that?” Sehun asked.

 

Kyungsoo startled, dropping the phone in his hand before scrambling to catch it before it hit the ground. He clutched it tightly to his chest. “Oh my god! Don’t startle me like that!”

 

Sehun smiled apologetically, “I’ve been trying to get your attention. But… yeah… who was that?”

 

Kyungsoo chuckled nervously, scratching his cheek. “That’s my sister, Wonyoung. Our family adopted her when she was five but honestly it’s like she was always there. I love her like she’s blood. She’s starting middle school this year and she’s so excited. Wouldn’t stop talking about it when I last talked to her.”

 

Sehun nodded and smiled, “She sounds like a good kid.”

 

Kyungsoo smiled back, adjusting his glasses with one finger. “She is. Probably the only person that I regret leaving behind. I miss her a lot.”

 

“I’m sure she misses you too,” Sehun commented.

 

“Kyungsoo!” boomed a loud, deep voice from behind them. “I’ve been looking for you since breakfast!”

 

Then suddenly, in Sehun’s vision, a black sweater clad arm wrapped around Kyungsoo’s shoulder. Sehun met eyes with the newcomer and his mind flared with recognition.

 

“Guitar guy?” Sehun blurted.

 

Said guitar guy glanced over at Sehun and his eyes widened in recognition. With his free arm, he pointed at Sehun. “Oh!” he exclaimed. “It’s you! New Kid!”

 

Kyungsoo adjusted his glasses and looked confusedly between them. His head shaking at a comical speed. “You two already know each other?”

 

Sehun nodded, “Yeah, we met last night. He set his guitar on fire.”

 

Guitar guy laughed, throwing his head back and to the point where he was shaking Kyungsoo with his arm. Kyungsoo, for his part barely reacted at all, merely looking at Sehun with a straight face. “I left an impression on you, huh?” the guy asked.

 

Sehun shrugged, “Hell of an impression.”

 

“You set your guitar on fire again,” Kyungsoo directed at his friend, unimpressed.

 

The guitar guy blushed and scratched the back of his head. “It’s not like I have to worry about getting another guitar anymore.”

 

Kyungsoo looked between guitar boy and Sehun once more before his eyes brightened suddenly, like a light bulb in his head had lit. He smiled at his friend. A teasing smile.

 

“So this is the person you were gushing about last night,” he said with a smirk.

 

Guitar boy froze, looking at Kyungsoo with wide eyes. He coughed awkwardly, “M-maybe.”

 

“Gushing?” Sehun asked, tilting his head slightly. “What are you talking about?”

 

Kyungsoo opened his mouth to say something but Guitar Boy slapped his hand on Kyungsoo’s mouth. “Nothing,” he yelled, garnering attention from the people around him. “Kyungsoo,” he said with a saccharine smile. “Why don’t you introduce us?”

 

Guitar Boy released him, earning him a glare from his friend.

 

“Oh Sehun, this is Park Chanyeol. Get used to seeing him around. Unfortunately for me, he’s my best friend,” Kyungsoo said with a huff.

 

Guitar boy—Chanyeol—nudged Kyungsoo with an elbow. “Hey, now. You don’t have to say that like you’re unhappy about it.”

 

Kyungsoo shrugged, “Who knows?” He turned toward Sehun now, lifting a hand up to cover his mouth to mock whisper. “Once he decides he likes you, he sticks to you like a leech. So good luck,” Kyungsoo said with a wink.

 

He was silenced by Chanyeol hitting him with his backpack, “Yah! Stop saying weird stuff like that!”

 

Kyungsoo cackled.

 

Sehun smiled at the exchange. He found that he didn’t really mind being attached to these people forever, if he had to be.

 

Chanyeol stopped hitting his friend and looked at Sehun. He beamed a smile at him, and he found himself struck at how much it reminded him of the sun as it pierced through dark clouds.

 

No, Sehun thought. He couldn’t really find it in himself to mind at all.

 

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For some reason, he couldn’t find himself to be too surprised when he saw Chanyeol again on another sleepless night. It was in the kitchen this time, mainly because Sehun had a craving for a midnight snack. He sat at the kitchen island as Chanyeol brought out a wide array of ingredients from the fridge.

 

He looked at Chanyeol confusedly as he made a sandwich that reminded Sehun vaguely of something Shaggy from Scooby Doo would eat.

 

“Wait,” Sehun said, eyebrows drawn together. “What kind of sandwich are you eating?”

 

Chanyeol stopped his chewing and looked at the contents of his sandwich. “Crab salad, coleslaw, and strawberry jam.”

 

Sehun scrunched his nose, disgusted. “All at once?”

 

Chanyeol shook his head. “No! They’re all separated by bread!”

 

“How much bread?” Sehun asked.

 

“Four slices?”

 

Sehun rolled his eyes, “That’s so much calories.”

 

Chanyeol shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich. “Don’t knock it till you try it, dude. I thought it was disgusting too. But now I find it strangely addicting.”

 

Sehun huffed, “Yeah, I totally doubt that. It’s your weird teenage hormones talking.”

 

“Need I remind you that you also have weird teenage hormones?”

 

“Mine don’t lead me to eating disgusting foods.”

 

“Just watch,” Chanyeol warned, waving his sandwich in front of Sehun threateningly. “You’re going to try it and you’ll be hooked like I was.”

 

“Yeah, I doubt that, weirdo.”

 

Yet, despite his clear disgust, Sehun couldn’t find it in himself to move off of his seat from the counter. He simply watched as Chanyeol continued to eat his sandwich. They locked eyes for a moment before Chanyeol looked away, his ears turning red. Sehun could feel himself heat up as well.

 

“I feel like an animal in a zoo,” Chanyeol mumbled around his food.

 

“With eating habits like that, you would indistinguishable from one,” Sehun quipped with a smirk.

 

Chanyeol snorted, nearly choking on his sandwich. “Funny, Sehun.”

 

“I try to be,” he replied with a smile.

 

They stood at the counter for a while, enjoying each others company without saying it out loud. Chanyeol stopped mid-chew—how long was it going to take to eat that thing? Sehun thought—and looked at Sehun, stars twinkling in his eyes. “Did you have a good first day?” Chanyeol asked. “Kyungsoo mentioned that you were nervous.”

 

Sehun rolled his eyes. “And what else did Kyungsoo say about me?”

 

Chanyeol shrugged, “That you seem like a good person and to not do that thing where I annoy people to death.”

 

“And? Are you following that advice?”

 

Chanyeol just smiled cheekily.

 

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Sehun, Tao, and Luhan met in a shady spot in the courtyard under a tree after their classes to study for their shared math class. But when Sehun looked up from his math book, he saw Tao scribble away on a piece of paper, his math book lay closed and abandoned to the side.

 

“What are you doing?” he asked, causing Tao to jump.

 

“Nothing!” Tao exclaimed, hastily covering up the paper with his hands.

 

Sehun quirked an eyebrow, saying without words that he thought his friend was lying.

 

Tao sighed. “Fine, I’m writing to my pen-pal.”

 

“You have a pen-pal?” Sehun asked, with furrowed brows.

 

Tao nodded, “For a while now. There was… something I needed help with and she was the only person that could help me at the time.”

 

“Oh, I didn’t mean to pry, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

 

“No, I don’t mind. It’s actually pretty nice to talk about her to someone else.”

 

“What’s she like?”

 

“She’s amazing. I mean, when I first started talking to her I thought she hated me and we fought all the time.”

 

“That must have been interesting to do through letters.”

 

“Y-yeah. She helped me out when—when I—” Tao struggled to find the words for a moment. “When I told my parents that I was a mutant. What I could do.”

 

Sehun felt a surge of sympathy for his classmate. Coming out to his family must have been hard. Not that he had the opportunity to, he bitterly thought to himself.

 

“My parents didn’t react very well to the news,” Tao continued. “And all I wanted to do was turn back time to before I told them and continue life this way. But she stopped me. Told me that my choices are my own. That I was in charge of my own destiny. And she not-so-gently reminded me that if I changed time I would continue feeling unsatisfied than if I just lived with the truth. I guess because of her, I started to believe in my own destiny. I think I was fated to meet her, even if it was through letters only.”

 

“So you believe in fate and destiny?” Sehun asked.

 

Tao nodded.

 

“But you can control time?” Sehun asked, confused.

 

“Oh god, not this again,” Luhan mumbled, going back to his work and ignoring them completely.

 

“Believe me,” Tao answered a sigh. “I’m aware of the irony.”

 

“But why?”

 

Tao pinched the bridge of his nose, “Time isn’t as immutable as people think it is. When people think of fate and destine, they think that it means that their lives are supposed to stay on one path forever. But there are anomalies that constantly fuck it up. There are things that are inevitable, yes. No matter what you choose there are things that happen because they are meant to happen. But what people don’t realize is that it is a culmination of all their previous choices. What would have happened if you stayed a second longer? If you had stepped slightly to the left? Everything leads to something. And in that way, everything is connected.”

 

Sehun blinked and shook his head. “That’s a lot to take in.”

 

Tao shrugged. “Maybe I’m just talking bullshit.”

 

Sehun shook his head. “It isn’t bullshit. Having someone to lean on. Having something to believe. All of that is precious, I think. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have someone like my brother to lean on.”

 

Their conversation was interrupted by a yell in the distance. It was Chanyeol waving them down enthusiastically, Kyungsoo in tow.

 

“But you don’t just have your brother anymore,” Tao said thoughtfully. “You have your friends too.”

 

Sehun smiled, waving his friends over, “Yeah, you’re right.”

It was already a pretty shitty day. He had woken up late and got to his class with the skin of his teeth. He had a headache from cramming for a physics test the night before, and he still wasn't making any progress on Professor Xavier’s essay.

 

But this? This probably took the cake.

 

“You want me to what?” Sehun asked incredulously.

 

“Sehun-ah” Junmyeon sighed. “Please give us some serious thought.

 

“There’s nothing to think about,” Sehun said resolutely. “There’s no ay in hell that I’m going to reach out to them.”

 

“They’re our parents.”

 

“And the moment they found out their oldest son was a mutant they didn’t hesitate to kick you out of the house. They didn’t hesitate to call the authorities on you, to boot. What makes you think that I’ll be different? Why would you think I want to be associated with those people any longer?”

 

“I don’t want you to end up lost like I was,” Junmyeon said softly. “It might not look like it, but it took me a long time to come to terms that this was my new home. That I was away from everything and everyone I’ve ever known.”

 

“But I have you,” Sehun mumbled. “Isn’t that the only thing that matters?”

 

“I’m not trying to make you do anything that you don’t want to do,” Junmyeon said. He threw the burner phone onto Sehun’s bed. “I’m just giving you the choice if you want it. If you want to reach out to them and possibly maintain a relationship with them, I’ll understand. If you don;t, I’ll understand that too.” Junmyeon grabbed his backpack and looked at Sehun pleadingly. “At least think about it, okay?”

 

Junmyeon left the room, leaving Sehun with his thoughts. He gingerly picked up the phone and turned it over a few times. Eventually, he sighed and placed the phone on his desk.

 

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The only logical thing in Sehun’s mind was to rant about it to his friends later on that day. After all, who else to give him the advice he desperately needed?

 

Once he explained the situation to Tao, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo, they sat in silence contemplatively.

 

“That sounds like you’ve been put in a tough spot, Sehun,” Tao said, sympathy lacing his voice. “I can honestly understand why you would be hesitant to contact them.”

 

“I don’t think it would be a bad idea to, honestly,” Chanyeol piped up. “It’s not like they could take you away. You’re here seeking asylum.”

 

“Are you kidding me?” Sehun asked incredulously. “Didn’t you hear anything I just said?”

 

Chanyeol shrugged, unfazed. “I’m just asking, what real harm could it do? I don’t think it would hurt if you reached out. Maybe you’re just scared?”

 

Sehun flashed back to his time back at home. Those early days when his parents just kicked out Junmyeon and made Sehun never speak of him again. To forget that he had an older brother. That the Junmyeon he knew was dead and wasn’t going to come back. He remembered coming home one day to find that Junmyeon had been photoshoped out of all the family pictures.

 

And Sehun just felt angry suddenly. Who was Chanyeol to say what he was afraid of? And who wouldn’t be scared, knowing what his parents would do, the lengths they would go, to maintain their political image?

 

 

 

“No, you don’t understand,” Sehun spat. “Just because you have a good relationship with your family doesn’t mean that it’s true for everyone else.”

 

Sehun got up and grabbed his backpack. “I shouldn’t have said anything, thanks for nothing.”

 

Chanyeol frowned and Kyungsoo stood up in confrontation.

 

“That was uncalled for, Oh Sehun,” Kyungsoo said, his voice hard.

 

“I don’t care,” Sehun said. “You guys have no idea what it’s like.”

 

And, despite Kyungsoo being slightly shorter than him, he couldn’t help but feel intimidated by Kyungsoo’s closeness and kill-you glare.

 

“And you have no idea what it’s like for us either! Sorry for not being helpful in the specific way you want us to be!”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“You’re coming to us for answers but deep down you know what you should do. You just want us to validate you. We’re trying to give you actual advice and that it wouldn’t be a bad thing if you still wanted a relationship with your mother.”

 

“And I’m telling you that it isn’t that easy!”

 

“So then let us understand you! That’s what friends do, right?”

 

“Shut up!” Sehun yelled. He pushed Kyungsoo by the chest and he hit the ground with a thud.

 

That immediately sprang Chanyeol into action. He grabbed Sehun by the arm and blocked him with his body, probably to stop Sehun from doing anything else to Kyungsoo.

 

But Sehun didn’t have the chance to say or do anything else because, the moment Chanyeol touched him, that particular spot became very hot. He could feel it burn through his clothes and on his skin.

 

He let out a loud scream.

 

Chanyeol let go hastily, causing Sehun to fall over to the ground. He clutched at his sleeve, searing pain traveled through his arm. He felt tears well up in his eyes. The pain blocked all other thoughts on his mind other than the anger.

 

“You fucking asshole!” Sehun yelled, clutching at his arm. “You burned me!”

 

Chanyeol tried to reach out to inspect the injury. “Sehun, I’m so—”

 

Sehun flinched and moved away. Chanyeol’s eyes widened as if Sehun had physically slapped him. It just made Sehun angrier. “Don’t fucking touch me! This is all your fault!”

 

Chanyeol shrunk back, “I didn’t mean to.”

 

“I don’t care if you didn’t mean to. You still did it,” Sehun spat. “You’re so careless! Don’t you know how dangerous you are to other people?” He thrust his arm in Chanyeol’s face. “Look at this! This is what happens when you don’t mean to do something!”

 

He could feel the wind pick up again, could see the tree branches jostle in protest, could hear as other students started to protest as their homework and other items was blown away.

 

Chanyeol sniffed, and it was only then Sehun realized that Chanyeol was crying. His eyes were red and tears streamed down his cheeks like rivers. The expression made Sehun stop his rant, floored by the reaction. If he wasn’t so angry he would have apologized. But that was not the case. This was just the icing on top of the cake that was his shitty day.

 

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Kyungsoo looking at him hard. “Go to the nurse,” he said tersely. “Leave Chanyeol alone.”

 

He huffed and grabbed his backpack, he vaguely caught Tao’s ‘I’ll go with him’ as he hastily made his escape. Just before he went inside, he turned towards where he left Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. He saw the two of them sitting together. Kyungsoo had wrapped an arm around his friend’s shoulders as Chanyeol sat with his head in his hands. He was shaking.

 

Sehun allowed himself to feel bad. But the pain in his arm was becoming unbearable. He would apologize later, after his arm was treated.

 

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Tao insisted he stay with Sehun in the clinic, but he waved his friend off. There was no reason to have his friend get in trouble with the teachers because he was late.

 

“Ah, you’re Junmyeon’s little brother, right?” asked an unfamiliar voice.

 

Sehun looked up, and he saw a boy that he saw Junmyeon frequently talk to in the hallways. They always stood and sat incredibly close to each other. And when Sehun felt truly settled in, he found his brother hanging out with the boy in front of him.

 

He had a soft smile with a dimple peeking out of his cheek. He could see why his brother liked him.

 

Sehun nodded. “I’m Sehun,” he mumbled.

 

“I’m Yixing,” he held his hand out for a handshake. “Your brother is my—well, he’s my best friend. He’s shown me a lot of kindness when I first got here. He even encouraged me to volunteer at the clinic along with ________.

 

Sehun met Yixing’s handshake with his injured arm

 

Yixing’s eyes caught at the way that Sehun was holding his arm and his eyes widened. “Oh my gosh! You’re here for something! I’m so sorry!”

 

Sehun nodded shyly, “Yeah, that’s why I’m here.”

 

Yixing put his hands on his face, it vaguely reminded him of a character from a movie. “What happened? What do you need? Why did you let me keep talking?”

 

Sehun tried his best to keep himself from laughing at Yixing’s antics. “I got burned. It hurts very, very much. And I thought it would make you more comfortable because I’m your friend’s little brother.”

 

“Ah, okay.” Yixing nodded. He gestured to one of the beds. “Sit down here and I will get some things ready.”

 

 

 

 

“Let’s see what we have here,” Yixing said softly, he softly nudged Sehun’s hand off of his arm and he obeyed. He hissed as he exposed it to the open air.

 

Yixing took it and, very gently, started turning it so that he could have a better look. His forearm was red, and he could see the faint outline of Chanyeol’s hand. He couldn’t tell if Yixing could tell. If he did, he didn’t say anything.

 

“So how did you get burned, anyways?” Yixing asked. He pressed his hand against the burn. Sehun jumped at the touch, sharp jolts of pain traveled up his arm.

 

“What are you—”

 

“Relax,” Yixing soothed, “The more you panic, the longer it’ll take to heal.”

 

And oh. Of course. There’’s probably a reason why he was volunteering at the clinic in particular. He took a deep breath and forced his muscles to lighten under Yixing’s touch.

 

“Thank you,” Yixing mumbled. “It won’t take long. I’m getting better at this but it still takes me some time.”

 

It was silent for a few moments, except for Yixing’s humming.

 

“How did you get burned anyway?” he asked. “Put your arm too close to the stove?”

 

Sehun shook his head. He frowned at the memory. “Someone else burned me. Park Chanyeol?”

 

Yixing’s eyes brightened in recognition, “Oh! I know Chanyeol! He actually finds himself here a lot. He’s extremely clumsy. He broke his nose by walking into a pillar once. That was funny.”

 

Sehun let him ramble for a while, “Yeah, he’s the epitome of a clumsy giant.”

 

“I had to refuse to heal his bruises after a while,” Yixing explained. “Whenever he comes in, I usually just throw an ice pack at him. Kyungsoo comes in here too.”

 

“I wouldn’t peg him as the clumsy type.”

 

“He isn’t. But I guess that’s the price of being Chanyeol’s best friend. He came in every once in a while for burns like this too. Chanyeol’s powers, more than anyone else, I think, are controlled by his emotions,” he hummed. “But it’s been a few months since it has happened. So I guess it’s getting better for him.”

 

“Well, it looks like he broke his streak,” Sehun spat bitterly.

 

Yixing frowned and took his hand away, Sehun inspected his arm. He marveled at how his arm looked better, less severe. Instead of having it be covered in blisters, it was just red and a little painful. Sehun looked up to thank Yixing when he was stopped by an expression that he saw enough on his parents when he still lived in Korea.

 

It was disappointment.

 

“He’s trying his best,” Yixing said. “You shouldn’t judge him for this.”

 

“Why not?” Sehun scoffed. “It’s his fault that I got hurt in the first place.”

 

“But he didn’t wish you harm, did he?”

 

Sehun absentmindedly clutched at his arm, shaking his head.

 

Yixing grabbed a chair and sat across from him. “You know, whenever I would treat Kyungsoo, Chanyeol would be in here too and he would cry a lot. Always apologizing. He would always try to hug him even while I was treating him. I hand to slap his hand away a lot,” Yixing chuckled.

 

Sehun blinked at Yixing. “And what would Kyungsoo do?”

 

Yixing raised one hand in a ‘karate chop’ motion and hit the top of Sehun’s head softly. “’Stop crying, idiot. Let Yixing do his job,’” Sehun couldn’t help but chuckle at Yixing’s deep-voiced impression of Kyungsoo.

 

The mirth didn’t last long, and Sehun found himself frowning again. “But Kyungsoo is his best friend, so he’s used to that. I’m not. Am I supposed to forgive him because he didn’t mean it?”

 

Yixing shook his head. “I’m not saying that. You’re welcome to not forgive him if you want. But I’m just saying that Chanyeol is trying just as hard as the rest of us. He’s really insecure about his ability because it can cause real harm if he’s not careful.” He shrugged, getting up from the chair, “I might be projecting or assuming, but from what I see that’s what I believe.”

 

Sehun sighed, rubbing at his arm. “I’ll think about it, I guess.”

 

Yixing was smiling his dimple smile again, “That’s all I ask.” He held a hand out, indicating to Sehun to give him his arm. “I healed your arm most of the way. I get exhausted when I heal someone completely. So I’m going to put more ointment on it and wrap it up. It’ll take a few days for it to heal completely.”

 

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Chanyeol didn’t attend classes for three days.

 

Other kids thought it might’ve been the flu or something, but Sehun only had an inkling of what it could have been. After his talk with Yixing the day of the incident he thought Chanyeol would have at least the decency to see him and apologize for the behavior.

 

He wanted to ask Kyungsoo, but it seemed like whenever Kyungsoo so much as sensed his presence he would ward Sehun off with one of his scary death glares.

 

But why was he wasting his time feeling bad in the first place? Wasn’t he the victim here?

 

“I’m sorry,” Tao said randomly as they sat under a tree in the courtyard together.

 

“Why are you sorry? It’s not like it’s your fault things are this way,” Sehun said with a shrug.

 

Tao grimaced, but Sehun didn’t question it. “I—Yeah,” he said. “You’re right. I’m just being weird.”

 

Sehun huffed and went back to his homework, his already feeble concentration broken when, a few moment later, he heard Tao hum. He looked up and his eyes already found what Tao was reacting to. On the far side of the building stood Chanyeol, his hair was different shades of blue now, almost like cotton candy. He wasn’t looking at them but own at his hands. He was wearing maroon gloves despite the fact that the weather was getting warmer.

 

He whirled around to see Tao frown at Chanyeol. “That’s new. That’s never happened before.”

 

Sehun pursed his lips. “Isn’t that a good thing? At least he can be careful now.”

 

In the distance, he could see Chanyeol frown as he fiddled with his gloves. He closed his hands into fists a few times, testing the feel of it against his skin. Sehun’s fingers twitched in the feeling to touch the spot on his arm where his burn was. Three days and it had healed nicely, only leaving a faint scar.

 

Tao looked at Sehun in shock. “But don’t you think… Don’t you think he seems less like himself?”

 

As if sensing their presence, Chanyeol looked in their direction. He reflexively raised his hand in a wave. But he froze, eyes wide as if he was scared. He hastily put his hand back down,

 

“Who cares?” Sehun scoffed. “It was his recklessness that got him here in the first place.”

 

“You shouldn’t talk about it like that, you know. You should forgive him. You’ll regret it later.”

 

It was Tao being cryptic, again. And normally he would be interested to listen to what his friend had to say, but he hated that his friend was trying to push him to do something that he really didn’t want to do.

 

“Why are you being so vague and mysterious? I thought you were my side in all of this.”

 

“I am. But Chanyeol is like the rest of us, you know? Deep down he’s incredibly insecure about his powers. It’s something he doesn’t understand. And he didn’t mean to hurt you.”

 

“You’re right,” Sehun frowned. “But he should still be more careful.”

 

“He shouldn’t be crucified for it,” Tao said with a frown.

 

Sehun shrugged, “Whatever. Let’s go. Professor Gray is going to rip us a new one if we’re late again.”

 

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Sehun sat on the bench, under the lamplight in the courtyard where he met Chanyeol. The weather finally allowed for it, as the night sky was clear and the moon was full.

 

In his lap was a sandwich wrapped in plastic wrap. It was one of those weird sandwiches that Chanyeol made. He was nervous about whether or not he made it correctly after seeing it once.

 

He hoped Chanyeol accepted his peace offering. He genuinely felt bad for what he said when he last saw his friend. The more he thought about it, the heavier the guilt became. He shouldn’t have said what he said.

 

A cold breeze went through him. Sehun shivered and pulled his jacket closer to his body. What was taking Chanyeol so long?

 

He waited under the lamplight. But Chanyeol never came.

 

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“Gloves,” Sehun said. “What’s up with those?”

 

It was the first time that the two had directly talked to each other since the incident. They had passed each other in the hallway but something inside of Sehun made him reach out and grab Chanyeol by the arm, stopping him in his tracks.

 

Chanyeol frowned and snatched his hand away from Sehun’s grip. He had this urge to push the corners of Chanyeol’s mouth upwards to gain some semblance of a smile. Chanyeol seemed a little dull, and deep down Sehun knew that it was because of him.

 

“Dr. McCoy made them for me,” Chanyeol mumbled. “I don’t really understand it, but he said it would help me suppress my powers when I’m not training to control them.”

 

Sehun quirked an eyebrow, and smiled, “So like some kind of fire version of Elsa from Frozen?”

 

The joke fell flat between them. Sehun could swear he could feel the words leave his mouth and splatter on the ground. Instead of laughing at his lame joke, Chanyeol looked away from him. He started to fiddle with the opening of his gloves. And, even though it was only a day, Sehun genuinely missed Chanyeol’s laughter.

 

“Basically,” he mumbled again. “I gotta meet Kyungsoo in the library. I’ll see you later,” he kept his hands to his sides and started to turn in the direction he was going down before. And Sehun knew that he was supposed to say something, anything.

 

“I was waiting for you last night,” Sehun stuttered. It caused Chanyeol to stop and turn back to face him. “At the usual place. You didn’t show up.”

 

Chanyeol shoved his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t feel like it,” he mumbled. “I can’t exactly play my guitar in these gloves.”

 

“I waited there with that stupid sandwich that you like,” Sehun continued. “It was cold.”

 

If anything, Chanyeol seemed to shrink even more into himself. Sehun wanted to reach out and shake him. What could he do? What could he say?

 

“I’m sorry for wasting your time then,” he said. And it was the most confident thing that Chanyeol had said since the start of this conversation.

 

Sehun’s stomach turned suddenly. The guilt heavy inside him like a stone. He opened his mouth to—

 

To what? Yell? Apologize? Insist that it was Chanyeol’s fault in the first place?

 

The silence between them became loud somehow. Like static when it was the only noise in the dead of night.

 

Apparently it was too late, because Chanyeol turned his back to him and continued down the hallway. A curdling in Sehun’s stomach let him know that letting him walk away was probably a mistake. But what could he say to make it better?

 

Perhaps it was a lost cause. One not worth fixing.

 

But why was everything inside of him screaming to mend this?

 

Sehun tampered down these feelings and went off in his own direction. That was nice while it lasted, he thought to himself.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

As soon as he got back to his room. Sehun threw the burner phone in the trash.

 

It didn’t feel as liberating as he thought.

 

.

 

.

 

.

Sehun shot up when he suddenly heard the screams. He immediately found himself with Junmyeon hovering near him. He covered hims mouth and wordlessly told him to listen. Sehun strained to hear and the screams that he was hearing earlier stopped and the popping noises of guns. They could hear hurried, panicked footsteps running past their door. And other sets of footsteps, slow and heavy, and loud bangs of the doors down the hall slamming open.

 

He looked at his brother, eyes wide and his heart started to beat so fast.

 

“What’s going on?” Sehun whispered. His voice broke in his fear.

 

“We’re being attacked, Sehun,” Junmyeon answered.

 

Sehun’s breath became short and quick, dread turned his veins into ice.

 

“Sehun, I need you to calm down. Do you remember where the safe rooms are?” Junmyeon asked.

 

Through his panic, Sehun nodded, he vaguely remembered Kyungsoo showing him when he had a tour. He swallowed past the lump in his throat.

 

“We’re going to make it there, okay? But we have to be very quiet,” his brother said, soothing despite the situation. He kept eye contact with Sehun and took deep breaths. He knew that this situation was just as scary for his brother, and that he was being strong. “Stay behind me, I’m going to peek around the corner.”

 

Sehun nodded and Junmyeon moved away towards the bedroom door. He kept one of his hands clutched on the back of Junmyeon’s pajama shirt.

 

He felt Junmyeon give a relieved sigh through his shirt as he gave Sehun a thumbs up.

 

Slowly, he creaked the door open and they found themselves in the dark hallway. For a moment, Sehun thought that they could make it.

 

That is, until a flashlight blinded their visions.

 

“Stop right there!” they heard, and Sehun braced himself for a hit when they heard a familiar voice.

 

“Hyung!” The voice said. Distracted, Sehun turned around and saw the familiar stark red head of Chanyeol. He stood, behind the soldiers. One of his hands was on fire and he was mid-throw of a fireball. He threw it and it arced upward and landed smack dab in the middle of the group of soldiers. The soldiers started to scream as they burned.

 

Chanyeol didn't have time to celebrate his victory because suddenly a dart was shot in his neck and he fell over. Sehun tried to run to help him when another soldier emerged around the corner, presumable the on that shot Chanyeol. Sehun watched helplessly through the flames as he was dragged away and out of sight.

 

He was pulled back by Junmyeon. “We have no time, we have to go!” He ran away, Sehun in tow.

 

There was an unmistakable noise of someone pulling a trigger.

 

He saw Junmyeon’s eyes roll to the back of his head as he went down. Sehun didn’t even have time to yell for his brother when he found himself falling too. He could feel his legs fail him as they gave out. The last thing he saw was the green light from the laser pointers and the flashlights as he fell into darkness.

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

 

“Sehun.”

 

“Sehun.”

 

“Sehun!”

 

He jolted up, bumping his head with something in the process.

 

He saw Tao holding his nose and grimacing in pain. His Pikachu pajamas black and gray with dirt.

 

“What was that for?” Sehun asked.

 

“You wouldn’t wake up,” Tao explained, his voice sort of muffled. “Who knows what the fuck they put in those tranquilizers.”

 

Sehun scrambled to sit up. They were in some sort of stone room, the walls were stone and the only way in or out was a metal door with no handle. The lights above them covered the room in a bluish green light, and the humming from the lights filled in the silence. He looked around, and other than Sehun and Tao, other students were there too. Kim Minseok, Min Jongdae, Kim Jongin, and Luhan were there as well.

 

In the far corner of the room, Sehun could recognize Chanyeol standing by himself, even with his back turned, Sehun could tell from his bright red hair that it was him. And Chanyeol looked like he was taking this the worst, mumbling to himself and holding on to the wall to steady himself.

 

“What’s wrong with him?” Sehun asked.

 

Tao frowned, “Some scientists came in while you were still unconscious. They grabbed Kyungsoo and Junmyeon and left. Chanyeol has been like that ever since.”

 

 

Sehun pursed his lips. His stomach dropped at the mention of his brother. This wasn’t good.

 

“Any idea where we are?”

 

Tao shook his head. “Some sort of facility, it looks like they came prepared too. They knew a lot about the school before attacking. They also don’t give a shit about the laws protecting it. So I think that they’re an off shoot of the government. Or maybe the government is paying them.”

 

“That sure is a very specific explanation,” Sehun hummed thoughtfully.

 

Tao shrugged, “I read a lot of con piracy theories. Governments have a history of being anti-mutant, so it doesn’t hurt to read them.”

 

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud sob coming from the far side of the room.

 

“K-Kyungsoo,” he heard. He turned around to see Chanyeol with one hand on the wall and the other covering his eyes. “Kyungsoo, Kyungsoo, they took Kyungsoo.”

 

Sehun looked around to the others in this cell, he locked eyes with Tao, who gave him a similar confused look.

 

Chanyeol was whimpering, and the spot on the wall where his hand was started to glow red. It was starting to glow brighter and started to branch out from his hand. The heat emanating from it started to envelop the room.

 

And Sehun knew he had to do something, anything. Chanyeol was going to cook them alive before the scientists did anything to them.

 

“Chanyeol!” he yelled. He grabbed the sides of Chanyeol’s face firmly, “You need to calm down!”

 

Chanyeol’s large dark eyes blinked at him, tears started to fall from his eyes. “K-Kyungsoo,” he whimpered helplessly.

 

Sehun lightly traced his fingers down Chanyeol’s jaw in what he hoped was a soothing motion. “We’ll get him back, I promise. But you’re not helping by panicking like this.”

 

Chanyeol closed his eyes and tried to relax against Sehun’s touch. “I’m scared,” he whispered.

 

“We all are,” Sehun replied. “But you need to stay calm, okay? Take deep breaths.”

 

Suddenly, another figure reached out towards them, breaking the moment. He looked over to see a hand on top of Chanyeol’s while it was still braced on the wall. He opened his mouth to yell but he saw the red glow of the wall start to disappear. Steam started to rise from the joined hands.

 

Chanyeol gasped and tried to move away, but the hand stayed firm on top on Chanyeol’s.

 

“Don’t worry,” said a voice. “You’re not hurting me. I have control of cold and ice so I thought I could help.”

 

Sehun’s gaze traveled up the arm and saw Kim Minseok’s contemplative face. It didn’t look like it was hurting him, thankfully. He internally breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“Don’t be afraid,” he directed at Chanyeol. His cat-like eyes pierced into Chanyeol’s eyes. Sehun, with his hands still on Chanyeol’s face. “We will make it through this together. Listen to your friend.”

 

Sehun wanted to spit out ‘we’re not friends’ but bit his tongue. No one cared for trivialities at a time like this. He kept his eyes on Chanyeol, who locked eyes with him. He was breathing normally now, which made Sehun breathe his own sigh of relief.

 

“Will you be okay?” Sehun asked softly.

 

Chanyeol nodded, “I feel—I feel okay now. Sorry.”

 

Sehun released him and moved away from him to the other side of the room. He steadfastly ignored the curious stares of the other people in the cell. He felt himself flush, wondering how the display looked in front of other people.

 

He busied himself with looking at the door and inspecting it. To his prediction, there was no handle or an eye slit to look out of. It was probably locked on the outside, he thought. It would be stupid to have an eye-slit to super powered mutant kids to utilize.

 

Sehun put his hands in his hair and pulled. This was getting so frustrating.

 

He wished Junmyeon was here. He hoped his brother was okay.

 

His own panic started to bubble in his chest. They were stuck here, they were going to die here.

 

“Do you have a plan, Sehun?” Luhan asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

 

Sehun shook his head, still a little dazed. “Is there anything you can do?”

 

Luhan closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head, “They’re doing something to block me. He touched the wall, this room is probably made to block telepaths.”

 

Sehun cursed under his breath. He whipped around and locked eyes with Jongin. He walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. “Is there any way you can look to see what’s out there?”

 

Jongin shook his head, pulling his knees closer to his chest. “I tried when I woke up. But I couldn’t.”

 

Sehun huffed. Shit. But with this information, he was confused. Chanyeol could use his powers earlier, and so could Minseok. Why couldn’t Luhan and Jongin use theirs?

 

He looked around the room and spied the camera sitting on one of the corners of the room. Sehun flipped it off. Defeated, Sehun sighed and silence descended upon the room. But he didn’t want to admit defeat.

 

But the longer they all stayed quiet, the louder the ambient noise became. A low deep hum. Sehun found himself overwhelmed by it. He looked up and stared at the lights above them, and then he wanted to smack himself for not figuring it out sooner.

 

“They’re electromagnetic,” he said out loud.

 

“Sehun?” Tao asked, “What are you talking about?”

 

“Everyone keep your heads down, I think I have a plan but it’s gonna be risky.”

 

“Jongdae, do your powers work in here?”

 

“I-I hadn’t tried,” Jongdae stuttered. He hold out a hand and sparks started to pop out. “I can, kind of?”

 

Sehun pointed upwards, “Can you short circuit those lights?”

 

“I can. But then we’ll have no light.”

 

“Chanyeol,” Chanyeol looked up at Sehun curiously. "Give us light, okay?”

 

He could feel Chanyeol’s hesitation before he nodded, not giving Sehun a verbal answer.

 

“Minseok.”

 

“Yeah?” asked Minseok.

 

Sehun pursed his lips, “I will need you to freeze the door and make the hinges weaker. Luhan, once Minseok is done and the lights go out, work your magic on the door.”

 

“Okay, Sehun,” Luhan answered. And in the back of his mind, he thought it was a wonder that Luhan agreed so easily. Maybe because it was a solid plan and it wasn’t the floundering that they were doing earlier.

 

He looked at Jongdae and nodded. And Jongdae pressed his hand against the wall and the lights started to flicker until the whole room was enveloped in darkness. A few moments later, a soft glow emitted from the side of the room Chanyeol was on. His fire bathed the room in an orange glow.

 

Minseok put both of his hands on the door and it froze over. Sehun nodded at Luhan, who held a hand out to the door. He swore he could feel the energy shift around them as Luhan focused on his target.

 

The door creaked. Louder and louder.

 

Then suddenly, the door burst outward flinging it out into the hallway.

 

Holy shit, the plan actually worked.

 

“Everyone run!” Sehun yelled. And they certainly didn’t need to be told twice as they spilled into the hallway.

 

As a group, they weaved through the hallways, searching for any sort of exit. But for Sehun, he was also trying to look for any other students that were stuck here with them.

 

Junmyeon and Kyungsoo were on his mind, he hoped that they weren’t too late and they could still be saved.

 

“We should get out of here!” yelled Jongin.

 

“We need to find Kyungsoo! And everyone else that is here!” countered Chanyeol.

 

Sehun raised a hand and they stopped talking. Silence fell upon them and it made him uneasy. They made an obscene amount of noise when they busted the door down. Not only that, but their escape was captured on camera. He could hear faint footsteps come down the hallway, just around the corner.

 

Sehun looked behind them only to find a dead end.

 

Shit.

 

“Everyone, we’re going to have to fight our way out of here, get ready,” Sehun announced, he put up his fists in an attempt to get into a fighting stance. Vaguely, he wished that he didn’t turn down the opportunity to learn self-defense when he was a kid. But he was ready to fight his way through anyone who rounded that corner.

 

They waited in anticipation as the footsteps got closer and closer. Three figures emerged from the shadows.

 

And they sighed in relief upon seeing familiar faces. It was Professor Munroe, Kyungsoo, and Junmyeon coming to meet them.

 

“Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol yelled, pushing past Sehun and Professor Munroe to gather his best friend in his arms.

 

“Hyung!” Sehun yelled, almost sobbing in relief.

 

“Sehun-ah,” Junmyeon sighed. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

 

“What happened to you?”

 

“They brought us into some sort of lab. But Professor Munroe saved us before they could do anything.”

 

Professor Munroe looked at them with wide eyes. “Looks like you guys could save yourselves,” she said, a smile on her lips. “We’ve taken care of most of the soldiers in the building—”

 

A muffled boom reverberated through the walls. The sound of it made Sehun cover his ears.

 

“I’m sorry to interrupt the touching reunion, but it looks like they’ve called for backup,” she sighed. “Come on, we have the jet to take you safely back home.”

 

They made their way towards the nearest exit. The sound of bullets and yelling and shouts became louder and louder. In the end, they made their way to an unsuspecting door, but Sehun’s heart accelerated at what was on the other side.

 

Professor Munroe slammed the door open and the group of students were almost slammed back by the wall of cold that greeted them. The world outside was pure white, its peace and serenity tainted by the fight happening on top of it. They were up on a mountain, Sehun realized. They couldn’t have a secret lab somewhere warm and tropical?

 

The X-Men were having a firefight against a group of soldiers.

 

“Okay, kids!” Professor Munroe—no, she was Storm right now—yelled over the noise. She pointed at the X-Jet, which was waiting with the (board thing) down, ready for them. “The team is going to cover for you while you run to the X-Jet. We will get you kids out of here. Keep each other safe and DO NOT STOP!” Her eyes turned stark white and a raging blizzard appeared just beyond the open door.

 

Storm flew away to join the fight, immediately striking a missile down with lightning.

 

For a moment, the students didn’t move. And Sehun wished he wasn’t at the front of the group.

 

The blizzard made it difficult to see the finish line. So, he reached a hand out and used his powers to make a clear path to the jet, despite the chaos happening around them.

 

He took one step onto the cold snow. Then another. And then dashed into a mad sprint over to the X-Jet. He kept his head down and tried not to flinch at the sounds of bullets whizzing past him. He could hear the other students rushing around and past him.

 

Suddenly, he found himself pushed down. He let out a grunt and when something landed on top of him. He turned and saw that it was Tao. He scrambled to get out from under him and lifted him up by the arms. He wrapped one of his arms under his shoulders and half-carried him.

 

“What the hell was that for?” he yelled over the noise.

 

“You should be thanking me,” Tao said. “If I hadn’t pushed you, you would have gotten shot in the arm.”

 

“Thank you, then maybe you’ll give me your deserts for the next month,” he said cheekily. And, despite the situation, Sehun found himself snorting.

 

They made it just in time, cause as soon as they got inside, the bay door began to close.

 

“Sehun!” he heard a familiar voice yell, and he sobbed in relief as he was enveloped in a hug by his brother.

 

“Junmyeon-hyung,” Sehun sighed.

 

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Junmyeon mumbled into his brother’s shoulder.

 

The rest of the jet ride home, Sehun was sat on one of the benches, wrapped in Junmyeon’s arms. They were safe now. He wanted to protest when Junmyeon squeezed too tightly around his form. But he decided to not say anything.

 

He looked over at Chanyeol, who had pulled his arms into his shirt as Kyungsoo wrapped an arm around his broad shoulders. Chanyeol was shaking, but Junmyeon’s embrace trapped him and rendered him unable to check on Chanyeol. Sehun just sighed and buried himself in Junmyeon’s arms. His ears were pressed to his brother’s chest, and he could hear his brother’s heart beat erratically. Which was unsurprising, given their situation.

 

He spied a look around the interior of the jet, and found similar looks of aftershock. And Sehun could feel for them, because he was going through the same thing.

 

But his mind flashed back to his professors. His teachers. Who were still down on the ground fighting so that they could make their escape safely. He remembered the surge of relief when the door opened and it revealed not another one of those scientists, but the face of someone familiar. He remembered feeling safe, that everything would be alright.

 

Sehun wanted, suddenly, that he wanted to be that way for others as well. To give them hope that everything would be alright.

 

He wanted to be a hero.

 

He wanted to be part of the X-Men.

.

 

.

 

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.

 

The government denied any involvement in the kidnapping of mutant students. Which was total bullshit. Because who else but the government would have the numbers and the equipment to get past all of the safeguards put in place to keep the school safe? Who else would have the balls to do so?

 

But, to be honest, Sehun didn’t have the energy or the brainpower to care. And neither did most of the students, who just wanted to put the traumatizing incident behind them.

 

He finished the essay in a number of hours, following the aftermath of their kidnapping attempt. It was mostly just word vomit, recounting his version of events and the conclusion that he came to. He was proud of himself, when he turned in a whole three pages to Professor Summers. He rewarded himself that night with one of those weird sandwiches (Chanyeol was right, they are strangely addicting).

 

But, as soon as he whipped around and saw Junmyeon’s furious expression as he slammed the door of their shared room closed, he realized that he should have known that this would come back to bite him in the ass.

 

He thrust a bunch of papers in front of Sehun’s face. “What is this?” he asked. “What the ever loving hell is this?”

 

“My… essay?” Sehun answered. “Shouldn’t you be happy that I got that done in my first year? You usually accuse me of being a slacker.”

 

“It’s not the essay part that I’m upset about, Sehun,” Junmyeon said, exasperated. “It’s what you said in it that I’m freaking out about.”

 

Sehun pursed his lips and crossed his arms. “What’s so bad about me being a hero?”

 

“No, it’s not a bad thing,” Junmyeon said, but Sehun knew from the crack in his voice that it was a godamn lie. “It’s admirable that you want to be part of the X-Men, it’s just—”

 

“Just what?” Sehun challenged, crossing his arms.

 

“It’s dangerous!” Junmyeon exploded. “Why do you want to risk your life? For praise? For glory?”

 

“I want to be a hero to save people!” Sehun yelled back. “I want to save the lives of people that don’t have the same abilities that we do! If I’m doomed to have these powers, why can’t I use them to help people?”

 

Junmyeon was floored by his little brother’s explanation, it seemed like he wasn’t anticipating the answer.

 

“When we were all in that cell, with no idea what to do, no idea if people cared if we were missing, no idea if we were going to be saved, I felt so helpless. I was there with a bunch of other kids who were just as helpless despite the fact that we had these powers,” Sehun took a deep breath. He felt anxious all over again, like he was transported back to that cell. “I never wanted to feel that helpless again. I don’t want anyone else to feel that helpless again. So yeah, I know it’s dangerous. But I don’t—”

 

His tirade was stopped by a pair of strong arms around him as Junmyeon pulled him into a hug. He hugged Sehun extra tight and put his head on his shoulder.

 

“I’m sorry I’m freaking out, Sehun-ah,” his brother said softly. “I was helpless too, when we were separated. I was worried that they were doing something to you like they did to some of our classmates and—” Junmyeon sobbed “—and when I saw your essay I was just scared. Scared that you’re going to go off one day and I’m never going to see you again. I’m scared for you. You’re the only family I’ve got.”

 

Sehun pulled away slightly so that he and Junmyeon were facing eye to eye. “You’re my only family, hyung. And we’re luckily enough to get to be here together. But there are mutants like Kyungsoo who are forced to be separated from his little sister. And—and Chanyeol— Junmyeon-hyung, you didn’t see the breakdown that he had when those soldiers took Kyungsoo. It was devastating. We’re really, truly lucky. I want to keep people safe so that they will be able to live to see the ones that they love.”

 

Junmyeon sniffed, wiping his tears away with his sleeve. “I understand your reasoning, Sehun. And I understand your wish to become a hero. So I’m going to help you.”

 

Sehun blinked at his brother in shock. He certainly didn’t anticipate this turn of events. He was fully prepared to argue with his brother more but all of his arguments flew out the window. “You’re going to help me?”

 

“Don’t think that I’m in any way okay with this still,” Junmyeon warned. “But as your brother, I want to support you in the things that make you happy. So if there’s anything you need, just tell me. You’ll have to pave your own way, so you’re going to need to ask other people to help you as well.”

 

“So you’re going to let me do this?”

 

“Weren’t you going to do it anyway regardless of what I said?”

 

“Oh, absolutely.”

 

“Then as long as you stick with it, I will support you.”

 

Sehun smiled at his brother, feeling lighter than he had since even before they got kidnapped. He felt like he could take on anything. “Thank you, hyung,” he said, starting to get emotional once again.

 

Junmyeon shrugged and let Sehun tackle him into another hug.

 

.

 

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He is surprised when he hears a voice calling out his name, getting him to stop in his tracks and turn around. He is even more surprised when the person calling him out is Chanyeol. Chanyeol was standing in front of him, an ice pack in a gloved hand. He wore a plain black T-shirt and jeans, yet it looked odd with his red gloves mixed with it. Not that Sehun knew anything about fashion or whatever.

 

And apparently he didn’t think about what he was going to say, cause he stood there and gaped without saying anything.

 

“Did you need something?” Sehun asked, slightly annoyed.

 

Chanyeol’s eyes widened and he scratched the back of his head with his free hand. “Sorry, uhh. How are you, I guess? After everything?”

 

Sehun pressed his lips into a thin line, was this really all he wanted to talk about?

 

Chanyeol fiddled with the tips of his gloves, and he continued talking without waiting for Sehun to answer. “You did a good job, when we were, you know…” his cheeks all the way to the tips of his ears were red. “Thanks for talking me down and keeping me calm.”

 

Sehun could feel heat rise on his cheeks, he remembered the way Chanyeol’s skin felt in his hands and how close their faces were as he encouraged Chanyeol to breathe, “Thank you. It was a stressful time for everyone, so it was understandable that you felt super stressed. I was too.”

 

Chanyeol nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. “True. But you were still great in an emergency situation. I heard that you wanted to join the X-Men someday?”

 

Sehun tilted his head in confusion, “Where did you hear that?”

 

Chanyeol gestured to the ice pack sitting at the counter, “I was seeing Yixing when I overheard Junmyeon ranting about it. I don’t think I’ve seen him so determined.”

 

Sehun chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “Yeah, he’s still mad at me about that. He’s coming around to it though, I think. He’s been letting me talk to Professor Xavier and Professor Summers about possibly doing some extra training and stuff.”

 

Chanyeol smiled at him, bright and happy. Sehun would never admit it out loud, but he missed having that smile directed at him.

 

“I’m happy to hear that,” he said, and Sehun knew that he was being genuine. “I think you’re going to be amazing.”

 

If it were possible, Sehun could feel his face get more warm. “That means a lot, thank you.”

 

Chanyeol opened his mouth to say something else when another voice interrupted them. The two boys jumped and looked towards the direction of the noise. It was Minseok waving at them.

 

“Chanyeol-ah!” he yelled. “You promised that we could go to the library to study!”

 

Chanyeol waved back enthusiastically. “Hold on!” he turned back to Sehun, and somehow the brightness of his smile rivaled that of the sun. “I’ll see you later, yeah?”

 

Sehun quirked an eyebrow. “I never knew you and Kim Minseok were friends.”

 

Chanyeol shrugged, “Not before. But it’s hard not to go through a harrowing experience with other people without making friends with them, you know? Or at least have their relationship be better.”

 

Did that make us friends again, too? Sehun couldn’t help but wonder. Cause it felt exactly the same.

 

Sehun pursed his lips. “I guess so,” he said instead.

 

Chanyeol waved him a small goodbye and started to walk away, “See you later.”

 

He watched as he walked away to join Minseok. And, even though it was broad daylight, everything felt a little more dull after Chanyeol’s departure.

 

For whatever reason that Sehun couldn’t place, the feeling felt familiar.


	2. 6 Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junmyeon is tasked with making his own team. There's a lot of drama. And a lot of twists and turns none of them had really expected.

Junmyeon was dreaming.

 

Maybe.

 

And in his dream, he was floating in a black void. He had no idea which way was up or down.

 

Suddenly, there was a flash of light in front of him.

 

“Junmyeon,” he heard. The voice was deep and high pitched at the same time. Junmyeon almost couldn’t comprehend that there was a voice at all, actually. Dreams were weird like that.

 

“Junmyeon,” the voice repeated. “Focus on my voice.”

 

He stared at the light as it flashed again, duller. The longer he stared at it, it got brighter and brighter until the light itself started to warp into a shape. It was the faint figure of a man sitting down. But Junmyeon’s brain filled in the gaps in his knowledge to make a good guess as to who was talking to him.

 

“Professor Xavier?” he asked, almost incredulously. “Why am I dreaming of you?”

 

“This isn’t a dream, Mr. Kim,” Professor Xavier’s smooth voice explained. “I’m trying to give you a message.”

 

Junmyeon squinted and held a hand to his temple, “I’m confused.”

 

He heard Professor Xavier sigh, and if Junmyeon was lucid, he would feel offended. “Listen, Junmyeon, I and the rest of the X-Men are heading into space to investigate an anomaly that Ms. Grey is sensing in the deep reaches of the galaxy. We need you to take over protecting New York in our absence.”

 

“Wait, don’t you have other members of the X-Men that could help out with this? Why ask me? I know nothing about being a leader.”

 

“Other members of the X-Men are otherwise… occupied,” Professor Xavier explained sheepishly. “They are on other missions with the Avengers and such. We haven’t heard from Mr. Labeau and his team since they went to the Amazon to investigate an anomaly there. We are spread too thin and our ranks cannot fill in the gaps.”

 

“Sounds to me that I’m the fourth string of this operation. Why me?”

 

“I choose you for this endeavor because I truly believe that you are capable of being a leader. Of greatness. I have seen your growth since you were a student and there’s a reason why you are a good choice, above all else. I firmly believe in you.”

 

Junmyeon sighed. “I will try my best, Professor. But how do I go about forming a team?”

 

“There’s a variety of ways to go about it. You could spend hours pouring over old school records to find the best matches to provide your team balance. You could hold try outs with criteria that they would have to match in order to be accepted. You could ask around in the underground of the mutant community and hire them to accompany you for a while. But if you’re asking what I did in particular—” Professor Xavier gave him a knowing smirk “—I just went with my gut. In times of need you’ll find yourself surrounded by great people with true good in their hearts. You know deep in your heart that you know these people, you just have to find them again.”

 

Junmyeon found himself hanging on Professor Xavier’s every word. He wanted to ask more questions, but suddenly the light that made up Professor Xavier had begun to fade away.

 

“What’s happening?” he asked, his heart beginning to speed up with uncertainty.

 

Professor Xavier looked down at his hands, also seeing the fading light. “It seems as though I’m getting too far away to communicate with you. It’s taking too much power. But no worries, Mr. Kim. I have the utmost faith in you to create a competent team. I must depart now. And it’s time for you to wake up.”

 

Professor Xavier held one hand out, thumb on his middle finger. He smirked at Junmyeon and quirked a brow. “Just don’t—how would Logan say it? ‘Don’t fuck up.’”

 

And then he snapped his fingers.

 

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Junmyeon shot up on his bed, sweaty and out of breath in the darkness. He looked over at his alarm clock and found 04:12AM staring back at him in large red numbers.

 

His bed companion groaned and sat up as well, rubbing his eyes. “Jun? What’s wrong?”

 

He rubbed the other man’s shoulder, “It’s early, Yixing, you need to rest. It was just a dream.”

 

Yixing huffed, and Junmyeon didn’t need light to know that his boy friend was rolling his eyes. “I think you’re talking bullshit. So you can drop the bullshit and tell me what’s wrong.”

 

Junmyeon snorted, why did he always forget how cranky Yixing was when he gets woken up early? “Professor Xavier was talking to me in my dream. The X-Men are fucking off into space and want me to form a team to protect New York while they’re gone because everyone else is busy.”

 

They sat in the dark silence for a while before Junmyeon suddenly found himself pushed back down on the bed. His back hit the mattress with an ‘oomph.’

 

“What are you doing?” he asked.

 

“We’re going back to sleep,” Yixing said matter-of-factly. “And we’re going to figure this out in the morning.” He put a finger on Junmyeon’s lips to silence him, “In the morning, when the sun is out. But you already got two people who are already on this so-called interim hero team.”

 

“Who?” he found himself asking.

 

He felt Yixing’s arms wrap around him and pull him closer to his boyfriend’s chest. “Well for one, you got me. You’re ever supportive partner,” Yixing mumbled. “And you’ve also got your darling little brother, who has been working his ass off to be a hero since his 2nd year of high school.”

 

“I do,” Junmyeon hummed.

 

He closed his eyes and found himself in a dreamless sleep, lulled by the absentminded circles that Yixing was drawing on his back.

 

Yeah, this was something he could deal with in the morning.

 

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Sehun basically said yes the moment the question had left his brother’s mouth. Which, to his part, wasn’t at all surprising. Before Professor Munroe—although she insisted Sehun call her Ororo now that he had graduated from high school—had left with the rest of the X-Men, she had taken him as her protege of sorts.

 

She had, out of all of his teachers, encouraged him to pursue his dream of being a hero. She taught him the importance of controlling his feelings and using them to channel his power. To, above all else, think about the people he could help but also think of the people that were fighting beside him. It was a powerful sentiment that resonated with him at the time.

 

So, when given the opportunity to protect New York along with his brother? How could he say no?

 

A few days after taking the offer, Junmyeon had given him a list of potential people who would be fit enough to join their team. Among them were names he recognized—like Kim Taeyeon, the valedictorian the year that Junmyeon graduated high school. He was overjoyed when he saw Tao’s name on the list.

 

And then he read down the list and he froze. One name stood out to him.

 

Park Chanyeol.

 

“You’re serious?” he asked, looking up from the piece of paper at his brother, who was sitting at the kitchen table eating eggs and toast.

 

Junmyeon shrugged, “I’m serious about a lot of things, so you’ve got to be a little more specific.”

 

“I mean about Park Chanyeol,” Sehun explained with a huff. “You’re seriously putting on the list people to potentially recruit?”

 

“Why not?” Junmyeon asked, taking a bite of his toast. “His powers could be useful.”

 

Sehun grimaced, “He’s also incredibly insecure. And it makes his powers go out of control.” He rubbed his arm absentmindedly. “Do you really think that that kind of person is right for the team?”

 

Junmyeon sighed and quirked a corner of his mouth in an unamused smirk, “It’s been years, Sehun-ah. Don’t you think he hasn’t changed since then?”

 

Sehun huffed, rolling his eyes.

 

Yixing appeared in the kitchen, hair disheveled but his eyes definitely awake. He looked between the two brothers and to the paper in Sehun’s hand. He turned to Junmyeon. “I told you he wouldn’t miss Chanyeol’s name on there,” he murmured. And before Sehun asked what the hell Yixing meant by that, Junmyeon piped up again.

 

“I’m just saying to maybe give him a chance,” his brother explained. “Who knows, maybe he’ll say no and you wouldn’t have to deal with him anyway.”

 

“Whatever,” Sehun scoffed. “As long as you talk to him and not me. I don’t think he would want to talk to me.”

 

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” he heard his brother ask as he walked out the door, ready to start his day.

 

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Sehun looked looked up at the dingy bar, Sudsies, and back down his phone, a message thread between him and his brother opened with the address. He wondered why Junmyeon had sent him to this place. As soon as he checked his phone, his phone got a new message.

 

Junmyeon-hyung

I probably should have mentioned that you were going to get Chanyeol. Sorry, not sorry.

 

Sehun growled and shoved his phone in his pocket. He was going to kill Junmyeon.

 

He had been running around trying to talk to some of the people on Junmyeon’s recruit list. Among them, he had gotten several ‘no’s. The only agreements that he got were from Byun Baekhyun—who Sehun didn’t have the pleasure of getting to know since he had transferred to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngster’s during their senior year of high school—and, of course, Tao. Not that he lost any contact with Tao, thanks to social media and the fact that, like Sehun, he had stayed in New York after high school the two still had a strong friendship and talked to each other regularly. And, when he went around to Tao’s place to talk to him, Tao opened the door before he even had the chance to knock and said yes to get it out of the way.

 

But now.

 

Now.

 

He was probably in the last place where he wanted to be.

 

Sehun was immediately hit with the smell of smoke and alcohol almost immediately when he entered the bar. There was a scattering of patrons meandering around, making small talk with one another. The bar itself looked like it hadn’t been updated since it opened several decades ago.

 

But honestly, Sehun wasn’t paying attention to the state of the bar. His attention was focused on the small stage area in front of him. Stage lights illuminated the person performing there.

 

And there, sitting on a stool with a guitar in his hands, was Park Chanyeol.

 

His hair was black now, Sehun noticed. And he was somehow even more handsome in the years that they hadn’t seen each other. He was singing into the microphone, eyes closed as the notes and lyrics flowed out of him. It was deep, but his voice was sweet like chocolate.

 

Chanyeol looked like he was in his element. All traces of the anxious and clumsy boy that he knew in high school had disappeared and he was replaced with a man that exuded confidence and charm. Sehun found himself unable to look away as Chanyeol strummed his guitar.

 

The last time he saw Chanyeol, it was the night of their graduation. He had simply given Sehun a two-fingered salute and left the school with his diploma. He wondered, every once in a while, what happened to him as time went by. But as soon as the thought came to him, they left.

 

Yet, his mind consistently went to Park Chanyeol. The boy that held fire in his hands, in his veins, in his heart. And on the stage, guitar in his hands, he shined brighter than every star in the sky. Than the sun itself. When the song was over, he smiled at the small crowd. He stood up and bowed.

 

“I hope you all have a good night,” he said, his voice deeper than Sehun remembered. He walked off the stage with feeble claps from the crowd. He put his guitar back in its case that was set aside. He hoisted it by the strap and headed over to the bar, where a drink was already waiting for him.

 

“Well, it saves me the trouble of offering you a drink,” Sehun commented, causing Chanyeol to look his way and freeze.

 

“Sehun?” Chanyeol asked, his eyes bulging out of his skull. “What are you doing here?”

 

Sehun shrugged, “I did just turn 21 recently, after all.”

 

“I mean,” Chanyeol sighed. “I mean here? To be more specific?”

 

“I came here to see you,” he answered, “You still play really well.”

 

Chanyeol flushed, and looking at his untouched drink it must have been because of the compliment.

 

“Thanks,” Chanyeol mumbled. “I didn’t think you would come out. Or care, actually.”

 

“Well, I did come here to ask you something,” Sehun said, he drummed his fingers on the counter.

 

Chanyeol sighed, “I knew it.”

 

“Look, I’m here to propose something,” he started to explain, keeping his eyes on the dark wood counter of the bar. “The X-Men are tasking Junmyeon to put a team together. You’re a good person to have.”

 

“No thank you,” Chanyeol answered shortly.

 

“No?” Sehun asked. And he wasn’t going to lie, he expected that sort of answer from the other man, but he still found himself being taken aback by it.

 

“No. Being a hero was more your thing, not mine,” Chanyeol looked at his gloves, “Do you really think I would be able to protect anyone?”

 

“Why are you saying that?”

 

“Because I can’t stop hurting people, Sehun. No matter careful I am. You do remember what happens when I don’t mean to, right?”

 

Sehun grimaced, remembering exactly what Chanyeol was talking about. The incident that ruined his friendship with both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. He rubbed absentmindedly at the spot on his arm where the scar still remained.

 

But, if Sehun were to be honest with himself. It was an incident that he grew from and moved past. Maybe it was the fact that he was the victim from it. He had the chance to move on. But, coming from the way Chanyeol remembered it, still regretted the actions, it seemed as though Chanyeol was stuck in the past, unable to move on in the same way Sehun had.

 

“I forgive you, you know,” he said.

 

Chanyeol looked up, broken out of his reverie.

 

“I forgive you for what happened back then. I forgave you, I just never got the chance to say it to you,” Sehun placed his hand on top of Chanyeol’s, holding it tight. The gloves themselves felt soft under Sehun’s fingers. “So stop thinking you’re dangerous. And honestly, out of everyone so far, I think you have the most capacity for greatness.” He didn’t know where these words came from, or why he was so desperate to change Chanyeol’s mind. But he knew that the words that was coming out of his mouth weren’t lies.

 

“I believe that you can help people, Chanyeol,” he continued. “I know that you think you’re dangerous, but I truly think that you can take your power and use it to protect instead.”

 

Chanyeol stared at him during his speech. And by the end of it, a tear escaped his eye that he quickly wiped away. “Kyungsoo already asked me about this, you know. He told me that Junmyeon-hyung asked him and he was going to take it. I already told him no. There’s no changing my mind about this.”

 

Sehun’s heart dropped to his stomach, but never the less, he gave Chanyeol a small smile. “I understand,” he gave Chanyeol’s hand one last squeeze before pulling away. He got up from the stool, his beer untouched. “If you change your mind, come by the school tomorrow morning. But if you don’t—”

 

Sehun choked on his own saliva. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden?

 

“—If you don’t, I’d still like to see you play sometime,” he finished, he could feel the heat creeping up on his face.

 

Chanyeol beamed at him then, a smile that he hadn’t seen in a long time but would never admit out loud that he missed.

 

“I’ll hold you to that, Oh Sehun,” Chanyeol said, giving him a two-fingered salute.

 

Sehun nodded and left the bar into the cold night. He clutched at his chest as he left, not knowing why it was beating so fast. Only Park Chanyeol could make him feel like this, after so much time.

 

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“Think they’ll show up?” Junmyeon asked.

 

Sehun shrugged.

 

The brothers were in one of the lounging rooms of the Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Sehun sat comfortably on the largest couch while Junmyeon was passing back and forth in front of him.

 

“Should we have pushed harder for Taeyeon and Tiffany to join us?” Junmyeon asked, more to himself than anything. “We probably could have used Wendy or any of the girls from Red Velvet.”

 

“We would have probably have to pay with blood or something,” Sehun replied, crossing his arms. “I personally think that having a bunch of vampires on the team would be to our detriment. Not to mention that they can’t really go out in the daylight.”

 

Junmyeon regarded his younger brother with skepticism. He put his hands on his hips. “You need to reexamine your personal biases. Just because Wendy is a vampire doesn’t mean that she’s a blood sucking monster.”

 

“No, I think she’s a blood-sucking monster because when I first met her she tried to fucking kill me,” Sehun rolled his eyes. “Maybe you should examine your own personal biases, hyung. Just because they all look like sweet girls doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re innocent.”

 

Junmyeon opened his mouth to retort when they were interrupted by four loud knocks on the old oak door. The two brothers looked at each other with wide eyes, Junmyeon checked his watch, whoever was at the door, they were right on time for the first ever meeting of this ragtag team. Junmyeon all but threw the door open in excitement. Sehun, on the other hand, walked behind him, a little more subdued in his enthusiasm. His heart pounded at the thought of who would be at the other side. Who, among the people that they had talked to, decided to join them in their crusade to become heroes?

 

But through this curiosity, Sehun wondered if Chanyeol would come.

 

He didn’t know why, but ever since meeting with Chanyeol again last night, he was kept up by the feelings that were rushing back to him. He remembered how handsome Chanyeol was, and how hot he felt when he set his eyes upon the other man, how flushed his face became whenever Chanyeol gave him attention back. He certainly lost sleep over it, remembering the way the feel of Chanyeol’s leather gloves felt like under his hand.

 

And, when Sehun got to the door to see what Junmyeon was yelling about, he was immediately met with the eyes of the person who cost him one night of sleep.

 

Almost everyone that they had asked to join their team had shown up—even Yifan, who Sehun thought he would rather fly to the top of Mt. Everest than to join any sort of team. Others among them were Byun Baekhyun, Do Kyungsoo, Kim Jongin, Kim Jongdae, and Kim Minseok. Luhan, he knew, was stuck in the middle of teaching physics in the wake of Professor McCoy’s absence. Yixing also had obligations to fill as the school’s only nurse.

 

Junmyeon had started to talk to all of them animatedly, the others had created a semi-circle around his brother, but it seemed as though Chanyeol had waited at the door. His soft gaze cause Sehun to stop in his tracks, and for a moment the two just stared at each other. Chanyeol smiled softly at him, and Sehun had the urge to poke at his dimple again.

 

“Y-you came,” Sehun inwardly cringed at the stutter. “You said you weren’t going to.”

 

Chanyeol shrugged, his smile growing bigger, “I thought so too, but you convinced me, I guess. Something told me that I had to. That it was my divine calling, or something.”

 

"Sounds like a Tao thing," Sehun mumbled. His gaze flickered over to Tao, who was standing in the semi-circle. Their eyes met for a second before Tao winked and turned his attention back to Junmyeon.

 

Chanyeol chuckled, "Yeah. It does sound like a Tao thing."

 

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“My codename will be Suho,” Junmyeon announced, pointing at himself.

 

They had finally moved the conversation into the building. Everyone that had arrived had started to lounge around on various couches in the room. Once everyone was on the same page and had determined that, ‘yes, they wanted to be a part of this team’ the conversation flowed naturally to things like codenames and possible uniform ideas.

 

Jongdae snorted, “‘Guardian’ huh? That’s fitting.”

 

“Sounds rich coming from someone who named himself ‘Chen,’” Chanyeol blurted out, laughing.

 

Jongdae shrugged, “It’s different. And it doesn’t give away what I can do with my power. I can fucking zap stuff. You won’t be able to tell that with the name ‘Chen’. I don’t need anything fancy.”

 

“None of your codenames make sense,” piped up Luhan. “They have nothing to do with your powers at all. At least Iceman was called Iceman because he had ice powers.” He turned to Minseok, who had been sat back in his seat with one leg crossed over the other. “Your codename is Xiumin. How the hell does that relate to ice at all?”

 

Minseok shrugged, “It just feels right.”

 

“And Kai?” Luhan asked, looking straight at Jongin, who had flushed under the attention. “How does that have anything to do with teleportation?”

 

Jongin just shrugged, “I always told myself that if I had a stage name, it would be Kai.”

 

Sehun watched from the corner of the room, laughter was bubbling up in his chest watching the exchange between his new teammates.

 

He saw Minseok and Chanyeol lock eyes for a moment. And when they looked away, he could see a red flush on Chanyeol’s cheeks.

 

The bubbles of laughter in his chest popped, suddenly he was left with the coldness and bitterness in their wake. What was this feeling? He thought to himself. It was a sensation that he only ever experienced whenever he saw the two interact together. He assumed that it was a general dislike of their relationship. They were extremely close in high school after the kidnapping incident. And he remembered the cold-and-bitter feeling back then too, when they were standing just a little bit too close with each other.

 

It was not until this moment that Sehun realized, it was jealousy.

 

But why would he be jealous? There was no reason to be. What right would he have, to be jealous of Minseok who could make Chanyeol blush with just a look? What right did he have, that Minseok got to be close to Chanyeol all those years ago when Sehun didn’t allow himself to?

 

Sehun pushed down his feelings but they still lingered in the pit of his stomach. They stayed there, even as he continued to listen to Junmyeon rattle on about their mission and their goals.

 

He stole a few glances at Chanyeol, and for some reason, he had wished that he could catch Chanyeol looking back at him.

 

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“No way in hell, kid,” Yifan rejected with a glare. He had his arms crossed and stared down Sehun with a hard gaze. Sehun gulped. Even though Sehun had grown and bulked up since he started high school, Yifan’s size still intimidated him.

 

But still, Sehun crossed his arms in response to Yifan’s answer. “And why not?”

 

“Cause your brother would fucking kill me, is why,” Yifan sighed. “You’re asking me to teach you how to fly.”

 

“But wouldn’t it make sense though?” Sehun argued. “You have the ability to fly, and I have the power of wind. Those things are related, right?”

 

Kris pinched his nose and sighed. “Kind of, but not really.”

 

Sehun pouted, “But I really do think that it would be a useful skill to have.”

 

Yifan stared him down, and he wiped his hands subtly onto his pants to get rid of his sweaty palms. After a few tense moments, Yifan pinched the bridge of his nose and furrowed his brows.

 

“Meet me on the roof in twenty minutes,” he said, voice hard. “Bring a thin blanket that you won’t miss.”

 

Sehun pumped a victorious fist in the air. He couldn’t believe he convinced Yifan to do something with him.

 

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“You really should be more careful, you know,” Yixing said gently. He placed a hand on the side of Sehun’s face to keep his head still. Sehun noticed how Yixing’s fingers shook even as he held Sehun steady. Was it because he had to fix Sehun’s leg? He applied the antiseptic on a cut on Sehun’s face. He flinched at the sting.

 

Yixing chuckled at him, the jerk.

 

“How did you even get hurt, Sehun?” He asked.

 

Sehun huffed, “I convinced Kris to teach me how to fly.”

 

It was okay at first, Sehun remembered. He had managed to control his wind to make him glide using two bedsheets tied to his arms and legs as some sort of makeshift parachute. He managed to get pretty high before he panicked. He was nervous at the height that he got and his sudden fear of heights made him move too much and he lost his form. He couldn’t recover in time and crashed into some trees. Luckily, he was wearing a helmet.

 

Yixing laughed at him again. “Junmyeon is going to kill him.”

 

Sehun shrugged, “So he said.”

 

“Sehun, I admire that you’re taking your goal of becoming a hero seriously, but just remember that you need to take care of yourself as well,” Yixing threw the used alcohol pad away and ran a hand through his hair. “If you wear yourself out or forget about your own safety, you won’t be able to help anyone.”

 

“But if I get hurt, I’ll have you to help me,” Sehun pointed out. He tilted his head in confusion and drew his brows together. “What’s wrong with that?”

 

Yixing gave Sehun a soft smile, “My power, along with everyone else, has its limits.” He lifted up his shaking hand to his face. “I try my best to help everyone I can. But the more I help people the weaker I get. My weakness could mean life or death not only to myself but to everyone else as well. What if I put myself in a situation where I put myself in danger? I would put someone else in danger too.”

 

Sehun frowned, seeing Yixing’s point.

 

Yixing put his hand on Sehun’s shoulder. “That’s the point of us training and getting stronger. We have to be strong enough for people to rely on us but we are not infallible. We still bleed and hurt. We just have powers. I have every confidence that you’ll become strong enough to hold your own, though. But even heroes can die. Professor Gray has died like, three times already. I can heal, sure, but if I can’t heal using my powers then I am useless. That’s why I devote myself to learning medicine and treating people using normal means.”

 

Sehun nodded, before he could say anything else there was a knock on the door. It looked like Yixing had another present to attend to. Yixing sighed.

 

“Just try to be more careful from now on, okay? The rest of the world still needs you alive and kicking,” he said.

 

Sehun got up and left the clinic, Yixing’s words floating around in his mind.

 

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“We still need a name, you know,” Baekhyun pointed out.

 

The rest of the group, who had gathered for an impromptu breakfast together on a Sunday morning, froze as soon as the words left Baekhyun’s mouth.

 

Jongdae, who was in mid-chew of his toast, hummed before swallowing. “I thought we would just be the X-Men?”

 

Jongin shook his head, “No, the X-Men are is space.”

 

“But don’t they have a rotating roster anyways?” Yifan asked. “Why couldn’t we do that?”

 

Sehun shrugged. “This feels sort of different to me,” he mumbled. “Why can’t we just be our own team?”

 

“You make it sound like we’re going to be together forever,” Luhan scoffed.

 

“Maybe not forever, but at least for right now,” Junmyeon pointed out. “And it would be nice to stand apart from the X-Men, even if we are taking over for them for a little bit.”

 

“How about X-Boys?” Baekhyun proposed.

 

Junmyeon waved it away, “We sound like a boy band.”

 

“X-Force?”

 

“Pretty sure that’s already taken.”

 

“What about EXO?” Yixing piped up, putting more butter on his toast.

 

“As in kisses and hugs?” Minseok asked, incredulous.

 

“I’m pretty sure it’s hugs and kisses,” Kyungsoo corrected, readjusting his glasses.

 

“No, not like that. Like E-X-O. EXO. It makes us sound mysterious and stuff, you know?” Yixing explained. He took a bite of his toast as a hush fell over the rest of the group.

 

“I like that idea,” Chanyeol said. “It’s unique, and it keeps up with the X theme…”

 

There were nods from the rest of the table. And so their superhero team name was decided.

 

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“Kyungsoo, is something the matter?” Baekhyun asked with a pout. “You’re acting nervous.”

 

The front door opened before Kyungsoo got a chance to answer, revealing a tall girl with long black hair. She looked nervously around the room before setting her eyes on them, her eyes lit up and she ran up to them.

 

“Oppa!” she yelled, wrapping her arms around Kyungsoo and tackling him with a hug. Sehun thought it was funny, because the girl was almost a full head taller than Kyungsoo and she affectionately called him ‘Oppa’. She crashed into him with an ‘oomph.’ but nevertheless hugged her back. “I thought you’d never invite me!”

 

Kyungsoo chuckled, wrapping his arms around her. “I’m sorry that it took me so long to invite you.”

 

Luhan looked at the exchange with furrowed brows, confused at the display. “Anyone want to explain to me what’s going on?”

 

“Oppa!” the girl yelled, pulling away from the embrace. “It’s so rude not to introduce me in front of your friends!”

 

“Ah, yes,” he turned the girl to face the rest of the group. She beamed and waved excitedly at them. While everyone else was just stunned. “Everyone, this is my little sister, Wonyoung. She’s in New York for an exchange program.”

 

“And you just invited her here?” Baekhyun asked.

 

Kyungsoo shrugged, pushing up his glasses on his nose. “It was actually Tao’s idea. He was super offended that I hadn’t brought her by for some reason.”

 

“Of course I was!” Tao exclaimed. “We’re a team now, right? Plus, now Wonyoung could say she visited her brother!”

 

Wonyoung turned to her brother and pouted, “But you really should have invited me sooner, Oppa. You know how much I wanted to come visit for the longest time.”

 

Kyungsoo pat her back and nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I know. It’s Oppa’s mistake.”

 

Wonyoung huffed, putting her hands on her hips. “Exactly!” she exclaimed.

 

Sehun snickered behind his hand.

 

Footsteps emerged from the hallway, revealing a sleepy looking Chanyeol. His hair was disheveled, and he ruffled his hair more while stretching his other arm. “What’s all the commotion about?” he yawned, groaning as he stretched his whole body.

 

Wonyoung jumped when she saw him. She looked at him, eyes bright with happiness. “Chanyeol-oppa!” she yelled, running toward him and giving another leaping hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up into his sleepy face. “Hello!”

 

The smile dropped from Sehun’s face and it felt like he was hit over the head with a bucket of ice water. When did she get so touchy with Chanyeol? When did Chanyeol allow himself to get so touchy with her? He looked over at Kyungsoo, who sported a sour look on his face. Although that might be because Chanyeol stole his sister’s attention, more than anything.

 

Sister complexes were weird.

 

Although one could argue that he had a brother complex over Junmyeon. Or maybe it was the other way around.

 

Not that anyone dared point that out though.

 

“Ah,” Chanyeol greeted, patting the girl on the back. “Wonyoung, are you here to visit your brother?”

 

Wonyoung pulled away, much to Sehun’s relief, and nodded enthusiastically. “I am! This place is so beautiful! Will you play the guitar for me, Chanyeol-oppa?”

 

Chanyeol chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Wonyoung-ah. I just woke up so I’m still a little tired.”

 

Wonyoung pouted, sad that Chanyeol had rejected her.

 

Chanyeol looked from her to Kyungsoo wildly, eyes wide and pleading for help. To which Kyungsoo just shrugged.

 

“But uhh,” Chanyeol stuttered, “Maybe later on in the day, okay?”

 

Wonyoung beamed again, “I would love that, Chanyeol-oppa!”

 

Chanyeol chuckled, patting the top of Wonyoung’s head. Kyungsoo, apparently sick of his sister not giving him attention walked right up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

 

“Wonyoung-ah,” he said softly. “Let’s put your stuff in the room you’re staying in and I’ll give you a tour, okay?”

 

The siblings walked away, the older brother herding the excited older sister through the hallway, her suitcase in hand. Chanyeol chuckled at their retreating backs. He walked over to the rest of the group, smiling at them.

 

“You two seemed pretty close,” Sehun couldn’t help but comment.

 

“Wonyoung is really sweet,” Chanyeol replied with a smile. “She’s like the younger sister I never had. Kyungsoo made me camp out at the airport with him when she first got to New York.”

 

“Oh,” was all Sehun said, Chanyeol nudged him by the elbow.

 

“No need to be jealous, Sehun-ah,” he said with a smirk, to which Sehun only replied with a glare.

 

Sehun stole glances at Wonyoung throughout the day, mainly due to the fact that she was the younger sibling of one of his teammates and he felt like he had the responsibility to make sure she was okay. She seemed at ease with the rest of the students there. She made quick friends with other girls like Ahn Yujin and Choi Yena. She seemed like a social butterfly, total opposite to her introverted brother. She also had a light an innocence about her that made him want to protect her.

 

Perhaps this was why Kyungsoo was so protective, Sehun thought.

 

But moreover, there was a feeling of easiness that washed over him whenever he checked on Wonyoung. Like something was out of place, and immediately he knew that she was the thing that was out of place.

 

Sehun hated thinking that way, but he couldn’t shake it off.

 

He spied the others checking up on her as well, not quite as hands on as Kyungsoo, who came to her almost every half hour to ask her how she was doing. The picture of a perfect older brother.

 

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They were having a team meeting in the lobby when it happened. Junmyeon had made it a habit for them to have such meetings once a week to discuss anything that happened during the week. This was also concurrent on top of mission debriefings. Sehun suspected that his brother took to the ‘leader’ role way too comfortably for someone who was floundering what to do about making an interim superhero team.

 

Why were there so many bank robberies anyway? Sehun couldn’t help but think.

 

The ground started to shake, causing the cup on the coffee table to fall and shatter. Sehun held on to the couch to keep his balance.

 

It was an earthquake, Sehun realized, panic bubbling up in his chest.

 

Junmyeon turned to the group. “Kyungsoo, bring your sister and the students to the safe rooms. Meet us at the jet. Everyone else, get into your suits and meet at the jet as well. We need to go into the city and assess the situation there. We leave in two minutes!”

 

Kyungsoo opened his mouth to protest but Junmyeon cut him off.

 

“You’re coming with us, Kyungsoo. The other staff will look after your sister. She will be safe, I promise,” he reassured.

 

At those words, Sehun’s veins froze like he was sparring against Minseok and he got a good hit in. He felt his breath hitch, but he didn’t quite know why. Apparently Tao felt the same way, considering the way that

 

Kyungsoo clenched his jaw and nodded. He gently led his sister by the hand and led her away. The rest of the group scrambled to put on their suits, ready to meet whatever hell awaited them.

Through the haze of their first successful high scale mission, Sehun could feel himself be off-kilter.

 

The moment they touched down in the city, there was a mad scramble to save as many people and buildings as possible. Sehun, himself, saved people from falling off of roofs along with Yifan and brought them safely to the ground. Overall, it was a very tiring experience but they tried their best to get to as many people and lessen the amount of casualties as they could. They all got to the jet tired and more worn down than when they left.

 

But a victory was a victory, wasn’t it?

 

“We should have a party,” Sehun proposed to his brother on the plane ride back, mostly as a way to lighten the mood. “A cake, streamers, the works. You know, as a good job for saving a bunch of people.”

 

Junmyeon chuckled, shaking his head. “I don’t think any of us are in a partying mood.”

 

Sehun surveyed the conditions of the rest of his team. And yeah, Junmyeon did have a point, as everyone was quiet and tending to their wounds. Yixing was flitting between them, hastily trying to heal their wounds. He held a soft smile for them, but his hands were slightly shaking from using his powers.

 

Minseok sighed, and his countenance was visibly relieved from the pain he was having in his leg. Yixing moved a hand to Minseok’s face to heal a cut that was bleeding from the cheek. He stopped Yixing’s hand with his own and shook his head.

 

Yixing pouted, “But you’re still hurt.”

 

“It’s just a cut,” Minseok assured, “It’ll heal on its own.” He gestured to his head toward Jongdae, who was clutching at his side. “Take care of the more severe ones. You’re wearing yourself out. Don’t waste your energy on small shit like this.”

 

Yixing hesitated to get up, “You sure?”

 

Minseok nodded, his large cat like eyes lit up as he smiled. “I’m sure.”

 

Yixing sighed as he got up and made his way over to Jongdae and gently pushed his hands away from his injured side. Jongdae chanted small ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you’s as Yixing healed him.

 

Sehun pursed his lips at the sight. It was that feeling again, uneasiness. The feeling that things aren’t the way that they should.

 

But they saved the day. So shouldn’t they be happy?

 

Perhaps this was the part that movies and comic books missed. The aftermath, the healing. Pouring over wounds and the silence of the return trip.

 

He walked away from Junmyeon and sat down at the nearest empty spot. Which was conveniently next to Chanyeol.

 

Chanyeol, oddly, was silent. It didn’t suit him at all and it only compounded the weird feelings in Sehun’s stomach. He looked over at Chanyeol to find him staring down at his hands. They were shaking. And Sehun spied cuts and blood flowing from his arm.

 

Without thinking, Sehun reached out to inspect Chanyeol’s wounds.”Do you need Yixing-hyung to look at you?” he asked, fingers brushing against the back of his hand.

 

Chanyeol jolted and moved his hands away as if Sehun’s touch burned him. “Don’t touch me,” he snapped. He looked at Sehun fearfully.

 

Sehun’s brows drew together in confusion. “But you’re hurt, Yixing-hyung needs to—”

 

Chanyeol hastily grabbed his gloves out of his pocket and put them on, covering his hands. “I’ll have them looked at later.”

 

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The moment they walked into the main building Kyungsoo was bombarded by a crying Wonyoung, who immediately gave him another one of her tackle-hugs. She didn’t care that she got dirt all over her dress.

 

“Oppa,” she sobbed into his neck. “I was worried that you wouldn’t come back.”

 

“I saw your school when I got there,” Kyungsoo mumbled. “If you weren’t here, I’m scared of what would have happened to you.”

 

Kyungsoo pulled away from Wonyoung and held her hand as they walked away. Sehun looked around him to see that everyone else had started to walk away and scatter to do whatever, he guessed. And he was left alone in the main room.

 

Some fucking victory, he thought with a huff.

 

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“And here I thought those sandwiches were for hormonal teenagers.”

 

Sehun jumped, nearly dropping his jam covered butter knife. He looked up to see Chanyeol, clad in his Frozen pajamas, leaning against the door frame to smirk at him. Sehun glared in response, but he felt his cheeks heat up at being caught.

 

“I’m still a growing boy,” Sehun huffed, putting the jam on the slice of bread before assembling the rest of the sandwich. “And, if you remember, I need the calories from wearing myself out from today. Not to mention I’m still a tiny bit upset at Junmyeon-hyung for not allowing us to have a party.”

 

They could have had cake, dammit, Sehun thought bitterly.

 

Chanyeol didn’t tease him further, as he expected. But instead, he gave Sehun a soft smile. He felt his cheeks heat up under the attention. He still thought Chanyeol was still an asshole, sure. But there was a traitorous part of his brain that stubbornly held on to the notion that Chanyeol was the most handsome man in existence. Not that he would let him know that, of course.

 

Sehun put the last piece of bread on the sandwich. He was about to lift it up and take a bite when he heard Chanyeol drumming his fingers against the counter. The taps muffled by his gloves. He eyed Chanyeol’s maroon gloves and he flashed back to their conversation (or lack of one?) in the jet on the way back from the mission.

 

“Did you have Yixing-hyung look at your hands?” Sehun mumbled quietly.

 

The question jolted Chanyeol out of his reverie. “Huh?”

 

“Your hands,” Sehun gestured at them. “They didn’t look great.”

 

Chanyeol looked down at his gloved hands, shaking his head. “He’s resting. There were more important wounds than mine.”

 

Sehun frowned, “How did they get like that in the first place?”

 

“I have to take my gloves off to use my powers freely,” Chanyeol shrugged. “I had to move some debris to help people escape, so my hands weren’t protected.”

 

“They looked painful.”

 

“Aww, were you worried about me?” cooed Chanyeol with a teasing smile. His dimple was prominent on his cheek and Sehun was a little overwhelmed with the desire to poke it. He shook his head. Where the hell did that come from? “I knew I could win your favor one day.”

 

Sehun huffed taking a large bite of his sandwich in lieu of an answer.

 

“You did a good job, though,” Chanyeol commented. His face was soft and he looked at Sehun with something akin to fondness. He couldn’t help but smile back.

 

“Thanks, I guess,” he waved to Chanyeol. “You did a good job too.”

 

“Wow, first worry, now praise. I think we’re going to do great on this team.”

 

“You know what? I think so too.”

 

"I have an older sister," Chanyeol said after a few beats of silence. "Shes the only family I have left."

 

“Oh,” was all Sehun said. All he could say, really. Although he wondered why he never knew that he had a sister.

 

"My mom,” Chanyeol started, looking away. “She died because of me. Because I couldn't control my powers. My sister blamed me for it ever since and I didn’t blame her. But one day, while I was here, she reached out to me. Wanted to start again."

 

Sehun furrowed his brows, "Why are you—"

 

"I never got to explain myself,” Chanyeol said, cutting him off. “All those years ago."

 

"Don't you ever wish you could change things?"

 

"Of course I do. But I don't understand why you're bringing it up now?"

 

"Don’t you ever wonder what it would be like if we were still friends? If we could—Sehun, even when you hated me I couldn't help but feel drawn to you. Please tell me you feel the same way."

 

And it would be easy now, to admit this. To admit to the pull that he felt towards the man sitting across from him. He couldn't escape Park Chanyeol. No matter how hard he trued.

 

But knowing that he felt the same way. It scared him. It made this all too real.

 

So that's why it was easy. Way too easy to lie.

 

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about," he said. And his words made Chanyeol's light dull.

 

Chanyeol opened his mouth to say something, but closed it shut. He gave Sehun a wry smile. He got up from his seat and turned to walk away. Sehun knew that it was a cop out answer, but he couldn’t bring it in himself to explain how he was feeling or reciprocate these feelings that he had for and about Chanyeol.

 

But more than anything, he wanted to reach out and stop him. To give them the chance that he also craved. The familiarity. The growing warmth that he felt whenever Chanyeol was around.

 

Another moment wasted, Sehun thought bitterly. He angrily took a bite of his sandwich, pushing his sour feelings down.

 

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What if things were different? he couldn’t help but think. It was something that repeated in his head over and over.

 

It was a phrase that repeated in his head now, in the middle of the night as he looked down to the courtyard. He spied a lone figure under the lamplight. And he watched as the figure strummed his guitar. He wondered what Chanyeol was practicing tonight.

 

He was transported to his first night at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. If he focused hard enough, he could picture his younger self by his side.

 

He his chest felt tight, suddenly. And he wanted, more than anything, for things to be simpler. What would have happened if things were different.

 

He took a fistful of cloth and angrily closed the curtains with a loud swoop.

 

It wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

 

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“What are you thinking about, Sehun?” Tao asked, taking the seat next to him.

 

They were in the Danger Room together. Sehun could feel his tension roll off of him as he punched and kicked at training dummies. But even though his muscles were relaxed and sore, his mind still raced with the last conversation he had with Chanyeol.

 

“Why do I keep making the same mistakes over and over?” he blurted, taking a sip of from his water bottle.

 

Tao quirked an eyebrow, “Wow, that certainly wasn’t what I was expecting. I was thinking something along the lines of ‘How do I hit this dummy good?’ or even a ‘What am I gonna eat for dinner?’ Certainly not that.”

 

“You asked, and I gave you an honest answer,” Sehun huffed. “But it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while. How do I change something that’s already broken? How do I stop myself from making mistakes that I can’t stop making?”

 

“Yeah, this definitely isn’t about the dummy,” Tao mumbled.

 

Sehun rolled his eyes. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

 

“Is it about Chanyeol then?”

 

Sehun buried his head in his hands, “I don’t know. Maybe.” He sighed, “I always feel like this, whenever I’m around him. It’s confusing.”

 

His friend regarded him with curious eyes, “What do you mean?”

 

He clutched at his chest, and squeezed his eyes shut. “When he’s around, my chest feels heavy. And it hurts. I want to keep looking at him but I can’t have him close at the same time.” Sehun was aware that he was rambling now, but he knew that with Tao he could say whatever he wanted. “I can’t breathe when he’s not around. But whenever he is, I don’t remember how to. What is this feeling? I don’t know.”

 

He opened his eyes and looked up at Tao. His friend’s eyes were wide, and it unnerved him because there were the beginnings of a smile there.

 

“I was waiting for this to happen,” Tao said, elated.

 

Before Sehun could begin to unpack whatever that meant, the two were startled by a loud blaring sound and an automated voice over the intercom system.

 

“SECURITY BREACH IN THE BRIEFING ROOM. SECURITY BREACH IN THE BRIEFING ROOM.”

 

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Meeting Scarlet Witch wasn’t exactly on the top of Sehun’s bucket list. Particularly because she was part of the Brotherhood of Mutants and the only way they would meet was during a battle of some sort.

 

And yet, along with the rest of their team, he stared incredulously as she, in all of her scarlet glory, sat at the head of their briefing table. She was tapping her long nails on the metal table. She was looking unimpressed at the lot of them. Judgy. Unbothered.

 

And Sehun expected something more. Like an attack or maybe a villain monologue. He certainly had not anticipated the way she turned to Tao and sighed in annoyance.

 

“Tao,” Scarlet Witch scolded. “You promised that you would tell them.”

 

Tao looked away, having the decency to look ashamed.

 

“Excuse me,” Junmyeon interjected. “Anyone want to get us in the goddamn loop? What are you dong here in our base? How did you get in?”

 

Scarlet Witch pinched her nose and sighed. “Tao told me the pass code.”

 

Junmyeon’s brows pinched together. “But—”

 

Scarlet Witch held a hand up. “Listen,” she said. “This is already a complicated situation so I’m going to break this down in a way you can understand.” She placed a hand on her chest. “Yes, I am the same Scarlet Witch that you know. But I am not here to attack you or hurt you.”

 

Chanyeol stepped forward, a flame burning brightly in his hand. “How can we be so sure?” he asked.

 

“If I were to mean you harm, you would already be dust,” she huffed. She approached Chanyeol slowly and poked his chest with a perfectly manicured finger. Chanyeol failed to hide a flinch. “So I suggest you put the flame away.”

 

Chanyeol’s gaze flickered to Junmyeon, who nodded. He huffed and put his hand down, extinguishing the flame.

 

Junmyeon turned to Tao, who was looking nervously through all of them.

 

“Care to explain?” Junmyeon asked. “Why exactly did you give Scarlet Witch access to our base? And why she hasn’t attacked us yet?”

 

Tao walked forward to stand beside Scarlet Witch. He didn’t meet anyone’s gaze. Scarlet Witch dropped a hand on his shoulder, her expression soft. It was an expression that Sehun never knew she could muster. Much less towards people that she had been fighting for the past year in X-Men’s absence.

 

“Take your time,” Scarlet Witch told Tao softly. “They’ll understand if you explain it to them.”

 

Tao ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. He looked up at them, and there was a vulnerability there that also surprised Sehun. The entire time he has known Tao, he always thought that Tao seemed bored with life. Very rarely did he show things like nervousness. Sehun figures that it was because of his power. He could anticipate and predict things before they happened. It lead him to wonder just how many times Tao used his power. How much he knew.

 

But apparently this was new.

 

“Scarlet Witch and I are from the future,” Tao said, “and it’s shit.” And his words fell upon the room, drowning out all of the noise.

 

Everyone stood still after the confession.

 

“I thought that you could only use your power to go up to 30 seconds in the past,” mumbled Yixing. “How are you able to go years back in time?”

 

“I was able to go back pretty far with Scarlet Witch’s help,” Tao explained. “It wasn’t exactly time travel, but with the efforts of both of our powers, we were able to throw our consciousness’ back in time.”

 

“How exactly far back did you throw yourself back? What happens in the future?”

 

“I threw us back 6 years. Back to when Sehun first got here.”

 

Without knowing it, a lot of puzzles fell into place in Sehun’s mind. It suddenly made sense to him. The random insights, the way he panicked on somewhat random events. The confusion. Those were things that probably changed. Something he had a hand in.

 

“Why that far?”

 

“It was an accident. But there was no way to fix it because at the time the rivalry between X-Men and the Brotherhood was very intense. I would have broken the trust of everyone here before even getting to be part of EXO. Luckily, Wanda was thrown back with me. And we stayed in order to lay low but there were certain things we had to change. We kept in communication over the years but we couldn’t meet up for obvious reasons.”

 

“Your pen-pal,” Sehun mumbled. “Your pen-pal was Scarlet Witch.”

 

Tao nodded guiltily. “She was. Is.”

 

“I don’t understand, what exactly happened for you to come back in time?” Luhan demanded. After all, it was him, even before Sehun, that knew how Tao felt about using his powers. “Are we destined for something? Did we fail?”

 

“Things happened,” Tao answered, and Sehun wanted to punch him in the face for being purposefully vague. “Things that I wanted to change. I wanted to change them for purely selfish reasons. Kyungsoo became part of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Luhan and Chanyeol died.”

 

“Wait, what?” Kyungsoo exclaimed. “Why would I ever do that?”

 

Sehun couldn’t help but be inclined to agree. He couldn’t imagine Kyungsoo changing sides for no reason.

 

“It’ll be better to show you, rather than tell you,” Scarlet Witch interrupted. She held out a hand, a swarm of energy swirling in her palm and faced them. “Everyone, open your mind. Relax. And remember, this version of events isn’t real. Not anymore.”

 

Junmyeon reached his hand out in response. To stop her, probably. But by the time he had it halfway up, it was too late.

 

 

_._

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_They found Kyungsoo, eventually._

_He was on his hands and knees in front of a destroyed building. He used his strength to move piles of rubble, and he was looking for something. Desperate._

_Sehun heard him yelling, but from how far he was, he couldn’t tell what he was saying. He stepped closer and closer to Kyungsoo, carefully. As to not startle him. Kyungsoo seemed agitated, his movements frantic and his voice was becoming hoarse because of all the yelling._

_Sehun stepped closer, careful not to surprise and further agitate his friend._

_Closer, he wondered how he was going to calm Kyungsoo down and wishing he hadn’t turned down Chanyeol going with him._

_Closer, and his heart broke. Kyungsoo’s voice was cracking, but his words were clear to Sehun now._

_“Wonyoung!” Kyungsoo yelled, moving piles of rubble with his bare hands. “Wonyoung, I’m here! Where are you?!”_

_._

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_Sehun ran to Junmyeon’s side, who was rubbing at his cheek. It was red and bruising quickly. He knew Kyungsoo was holding back, even in his anger._

_“You fucking bastard,” Kyungsoo grit. “I told you. I told you that her school needed help. And now she’s dead.”_

_“We have to care about more lives than our own and the ones we love,” Junmyeon said. He spat on the ground next to him, dark with blood._

_“That’s easy for you to say,” Kyungsoo looked over at Sehun, the blankness in his stare causing Sehun’s veins to turn into ice. Everything in him screamed to run away from the situation. “Everything you love has powers of their own. They’re already here.”_

_Kyungsoo broke out of Chanyeol and McLuhan’s hold and stride over towards Sehun. A bare hand grabbed at Sehun’s throat and lifted him up._

_“Let him go, Kyungsoo,” warned Junmyeon._

_Kyungsoo squeezed a little harder, Sehun squeaked at the additional pressure. “Do you feel helpless, Junmyeon-hyung? Do you want to shield your brother from me, the danger? That’s how I felt when it came to my sister. She had no way of protecting herself and we left her to die.”_

_Sehun choked, darkness encroaching the edges of his vision._

_“I’ll make you feel as helpless as Wonyoung did. As I do now,” Kyungsoo threatened and Sehun felt very, very afraid._

_And then suddenly, Kyungsoo yelped and let him go, dropping Sehun back onto the ground. Sehun hacked and coughed, gasping for air. Everything sounded so far away, focusing only on getting his breath back._

_“You fucking burned me!” he vaguely heard._

_“You were out of control,” Chanyeol explained. “I wasn’t going to let you hurt anyone. Especially one of our teammates.”_

_“Especially Sehun, you mean.”_

_“Shut up,” Chanyeol barked. “It isn’t about that. You’re my best friend. You don’t need a death on your conscience..”_

_“Bullshit,” Kyungsoo spat. “Wonyoung’s death is on my conscience. The lives of those kids are on my conscience.”_

_Their voices were overcome by Junmyeon’s who had scrambled to his brother in record time. “Sehun-ah,” he said gently, putting a hand on his back. “Are you all right?”_

_Sehun started to breathe normally again. He looked at his brother, whose relief was palpable in his eyes, and nodded. Yixing appeared on his other side, gingerly placing a hand on Sehun’s throat. He flinched at the touch but immediately relaxed when he remembered that_

_“Kyungsoo! Where are you going?!” Chanyeol yelled._

_Sehun heard Kyungsoo's retreating footsteps of the door whooshing open and shut. He looked up and locked eyes with Chanyeol, who seemed torn between staying with Sehun and going after his best friend. He made the choice for Chanyeol and waved him off. Between Junmyeon and Yixing, he would be fine._

 

_Chanyeol nodded, resolute, and went after Kyungsoo._

_._

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_._

_Sehun felt the bed dip, rousing him awake. He turned over in the bed to find Chanyeol facing him. He put a hand on Sehun’s cheek, his calloused fingers brushed against his skin. But Sehun sighed against the touch._

_“Did I wake you?” Chanyeol asked softly. He looked exhausted._

_Sehun shook his head, “I was just dozing when you came in. No worries.”_

_Chanyeol sighed and pulled Sehun closer to pull him into his arms. He snuggled into Sehun’s neck and took a deep breath._

_“I’m sorry, for what Kyungsoo did. I didn’t think—” Chanyeol sobbed, and Sehun ached for him._

_“I didn’t either,” Sehun interrupted. “No one did. It’s not your fault.”_

_“I can’t believe what happened to Wonyoung,” he sobbed. “So young. I can’t—”_

_Chanyeol began to sob harder into Sehun’s neck. Sehun squeezed his arms around Chanyeol tighter, whispering sweet nothings in his ear._

_Chanyeol pulled away to press his forehead against Sehun’s. His eyes were red and puffy. “I don’t want to lose anyone else. What if, one day, one of us dies? It could happen at any time. You know how many times Jean Grey has died?”_

_“Yeah, but Jean Grey came back each time,” Sehun chuckled. But it just made Chanyeol frown harder._

_“Sehun-ah,” he whined. “I’m trying to be serious.”_

_Sehun grasped Chanyeol’s jaw with both hands, making his breath hitch. Chanyeol’s expression changed and behind the haze of sadness was something almost like want. Sehun wanted to grasp it and run with it._

_“We can be serious later,” he said, crashing his lips with Chanyeol’s._

_He gasped, and Sehun took the opportunity to slip his tongue into Chanyeol’s mouth, making him moan. He slipped a hand under Chanyeol’s shirt, softly grazing his hard abs and lightly teasing his nipples the way that made the other man pliant._

_Safe to say that there was no talking after that._

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_ _

_Sehun should have known, that when they found Kyungsoo’s bed empty the next day, that Chanyeol wouldn’t be that far behind._

_But at least he had the decency to say goodbye. Not that Sehun would let him._

_“So you’re leaving then?”_

_Sehun put his hands in his pockets, staring at Chanyeol for some sort of explanation_

_Both of them stood at the steps of Xavier’s School, the sun just peeked out of the horizon, coloring the sky pink and orange and red. Sehun was a step or two above Chanyeol, causing him to look slightly down at the other man. The world around them was quiet, save for the hearts hammering in their chests. Chanyeol fiddled with the straps of his backpack. “I have to find him, Sehun-ah. He shouldn’t be alone right now.”_

_Sehun shook his head. “He made his choice, Chanyeol-hyung. You don’t have to follow him.”_

_“This is my choice, too. He’s my best friend. He matters to me.”_

_“Don’t I matter?” Sehun blurted._

_Chanyeol smiled sadly. “More than you think.”_

_Sehun clenched his fists and struggled to keep a straight face._

_“If I matter so much, then stay,” he spat. “Or take me with you.”_

_Chanyeol shook his head. “I can’t Sehun. You’re needed here rather than slumming it with me.”_

_Sehun sighed, hanging his head in defeat. “Okay. Fine. Whatever.”_

_Chanyeol hooked two fingers under Sehun’s chin and lifted his head up so that they were face to face. He was smiling still, but it was a better fit for his face._

_“Don’t be like that,” he said with a chuckle. “If you’re here, then I have a reason to come back.”_

_“What are you talking about?” Sehun huffed. “I can barely stand you, you know.”_

_Chanyeol shrugged, still holding Sehun’s chin. “I know, but I think out of everyone here, I’ll miss you the most.”_

_Chanyeol released him and started to walk away, everything in Sehun screamed for him to do something, anything._

_He reached out and stopped Chanyeol by the arm. Chanyeol looked at him with wide, confused eyes._

_Sehun grasped his face and brought his lips to Chanyeol’s in a soft kiss. It felt like a promise._

_When Sehun pulled away, he swore that stars danced in Chanyeol’s eyes with the way they twinkled._

_“Whoa,” was all Chanyeol said._

_Sehun smiled and brought their foreheads together. “Don’t get yourself killed out there, okay?”_

_Chanyeol nodded and stepped away from him. “Bye, Sehun.”_

_He watched as Chanyeol’s figure got smaller and disappeared in the distance, and even though the sun was higher in the sky now, Sehun felt like Chanyeol took the light with him._

_ _

_Time marched on._

_It felt like Sehun didn’t have time to dwell on Kyungsoo and Chanyeol’s departures because, not long after Chanyeol’s goodbye, Sehun was on their jet to fulfill another mission. And another. And another._

_Being a hero was hard, but it was fulfilling. Saving lives and taking out his anger on criminals._

_And in each face of the people he saved, every smile of relief and cry of thanks, he couldn’t quite quell the guilt he felt toward the ones he couldn’t get to in time._

_He couldn’t help but think about the picture he saw of Wonyoung all those years ago, smiling innocently on Kyungsoo’s phone screen. His first bitter taste of failure. The reason why Kyungsoo and then Chanyeol left them. For the first few months, they all tried to do their part to drag Kyungsoo back home so that he wouldn’t mourn the death of his sister alone. But time had proven to be fickle. Each day with nothing dwindled their hopes. There were more innocent people that needed their help and they were wasting their time on someone who didn’t want to be found._

_So he had no choice but to move on. Day after day. Mission after mission. And even though he felt their absence every in every moment, he had to focus on the people that needed him. His team. The people._

_But there were days that were too much._

_Like today._

_Today was a disaster._

_“Okay, guys,” Junmyeon strained. He held his side where it was still bleeding. But from how he was still leaning against Yixing, his brother wasn’t the poised leader that he thought he was. “Rest up, we’ll debrief tomorrow.”_

_Sehun gave his brother a two-fingered salute and went straight to his room._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_ _

_He was convinced that he was dreaming._

_There was no way that Chanyeol was in front of him right now. He had been gone for months._

_“You know, I was expecting a better reception,” Chanyeol chuckled, running a nervous hand through his hair. “But, uhh. I’m back now. I came with news but I wanted to see you first.”_

_Sehun blinked once. Twice. Before tackling Chanyeol down to the mattress. He smashed their lips together in a kiss that knocked their teeth together. He had too much to say but no way to say it other than like this. He hoped that through it he could tell Chanyeol how much he longed for the other man when he was away. Lonely nights where it was just him and his hand to keep him company at night. How much he missed the feeling of Chanyeol’s hands on his skin._

_And, from the answering groan Chanyeol gave into the kiss, he thought that his message was received._

_He pulled away, and the two men stared at each other, flushed and panting._

_“You came back,” Sehun sighed, bringing Chanyeol_ in to _another fiery kiss. “You came back to me.”_

_“Of course I did,” Chanyeol hummed. “I told you I would, didn’t I?”_

_And as they kissed and kissed, three words started to form in Sehun’s mouth, wanting to escape. Sehun swallowed them, there would be a time for that later._

_First…_

_“Does anyone else know that you’re here?” he asked, gaze flickering from Chanyeol’s big eyes to his lips._

_Chanyeol shook his head. “You’re the first one.”_

_Sehun smirked, “Good.” He shot up from the bed and started to remove his clothes. “You have to make it up to me. Let’s have a proper reunion.”_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_ _

_They were in the briefing room, surrounded by the rest of EXO. They all were silent, after Chanyeol’s startling news._

_“Kyungsoo has joined the Brotherhood of Mutants?” Baekhyun asked incredulously. “That doesn’t seem possible.”_

_Chanyeol grimaced, “I didn’t think so either but.” He took a deep breath. “He’s gone off the deep end since—since Wonyoung.”_

_“Were you part of the Brotherhood of Mutants as well?” Yifan asked. “There has to be a reason why you know all of this.”_

_Chanyeol shook his head fervently. “No! I would never.”_

_Then again, none of them thought Kyungsoo would ever. But here they were._

_“I found him a week after I left. And at_ first _everything was okay, we got an apartment together in the city and he was adamant that he was done with saving people,” Chanyeol explained. “I honestly thought that he would be able to recover and get back on his feet on his own but he had been staying out late more and more. And one day I stayed up and followed him to see where he was going every night. And he led me right to the base of the Brotherhood of Mutants. I snuck in and listened_ on _their plans. The earthquake that hit New York wasn’t a natural one. It was a meteor that hit the coast that caused it. It was seized by the government but Mystique was able to infiltrate and there’s a compound in it that changed the genes of people who came into contact with it.”_

_“They turned people into mutants,” Luhan simplified, his eyes wide. “Are you certain?”_

_Chanyeol nodded, “I haven’t seen it. But they were serious enough about it to talk about infiltrating it and taking the compound for themselves.”_

_“What happened with Kyungsoo?” Tao asked quietly. “Does he know that you’re here?”_

_Chanyeol shook his head. “I confronted him about it though. He denied everything. But he doesn’t know what I know. And I can’t let him do this. Who knows what they’re planning with it?”_

_Junmyeon walked over to Chanyeol’s side and firmly placed an arm on his shoulder. “You’re taking a lot of risks coming here. But I’m afraid I have to ask one more of you, will you help us stop them?”_

_Chanyeol looked up at Junmyeon resolutely and nodded._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_The three words almost came out again when they were in the X-Jet, waiting to descend upon the makeshift compound that housed the meteor._

_Instead, he reached over and grabbed Chanyeol’s hand. Feeling his skin against Sehun’s and squeezed it tight._

_“I’m scared,” he said, looking up at Chanyeol._

_Chanyeol squeezed tighter. “Everything will be alright,” he said with a small smile. “You’ll be okay.”_

_Sehun swallowed the words down again, there would be time to say them. After all of this was over._

_But no matter how many times he told himself that, the feeling of uneasiness in his stomach grew. But he held on to the hope that things might turn out okay._

_He would have time to tell Chanyeol ‘I love you.’_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_And he would. Just not in the way that he wanted._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_ _

_It was just his luck that he would be facing off against Kyungsoo._

_Between both of them, Kyungsoo was the better fighter. And depending on the kinds of punches he was getting, he knew that Kyungsoo was holding him back. It made him angry._

_“Stop fucking around and stop this, Kyungsoo!” Sehun yelled, dodging another one of his punches._

_“I’ll stop when we get what we need,” Kyungsoo hissed, raising his fist to strike again._

_“Do you think your sister would have wanted this?” he asked. And he watched as Kyungsoo’s expression turned into pure unbridled rage. He pushed Sehun into a wall harshly._

_“Don’t you fucking dare mention her name!” he yelled. He raised a fist in the air once more and there was little Sehun could do than put his hands up in futile._

_Sehun closed his eyes for the final blow._

_It never came. Though he could hear the sickening sounds of squelching and bones cracking._

_“Ch-Chanyeol,” said Kyungsoo’s broken voice._

_Sehun’s eyes flew open and were met with Chanyeol’s back. He started to fall back but Sehun caught him._

_Sehun fell to his knees. Blood dribbled from Chanyeol’s lips._

_“You idiot,” Sehun sobbed. “Why?”_

_Chanyeol smiled, “You know why. I love you.”_

_Sehun clutched him closer, tighter. “Stop. I love you too, you dumbass. Don’t leave me. I’m so fucking sick of you leaving me. You said we would make up for lost time!”_

_Chanyeol had already stopped breathing._

_“I love you,” he said. But he was begging now. “I love you.”_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_Kyungsoo tried to reach out to Chanyeol but Sehun slapped his hand away._

_“Don’t touch him,” Sehun hissed. “Don’t you fucking touch him.”_

_“Sehun—he’s—I’m—” Kyungsoo began to say. “I didn’t mean to—”_

_“Fuck you!” Sehun spat. He pulled Chanyeol closer to him and cradled his face gently. He looked so peaceful, in stark contrast to the destruction and desolation around him. Like he was sleeping. Never to wake again. “You killed him. Chanyeol.”_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_It wasn’t supposed to be like this, Tao thought. He observed the aftermath around him. There was fire. There was blood, There was loss._

_Kyungsoo was on his knees, staring blankly as Sehun held Chanyeol’s lifeless body. The younger was wailing over his dead lover. Yifan was struggling to get debris off of Junmyeon as he yelled for Yixing, who hadn’t been seen since the battle had started, Jongin had teleported away trying to find him._

_Minseok, Jongdae, and Baekhyun were still up and fighting the remaining members of the Brother of Mutants. Luhan lay next to him, another casualty of this meaningless fight. Tao sank to his knees. He wanted to cover his ears and scream._

_It wasn’t supposed to be like this…_

_He felt someone else collapse next to him. He looked up and saw a mangled Scarlet Witch, clutching her side over a wound that stained her costume a darker red._

_“You feel it too, don’t you?” she asked, wheezing. “Something is wrong.”_

_Tao stared in lieu of an answer._

_“We can fix this,” she continued. “Both of us. We can save our friends.”_

_She held out her other hand toward him. “Please. Help me.”_

_And for Tao, it wasn’t even a decision. He grabbed her hand. Power surged through his veins as their powers slid together like puzzle pieces._

_And they were gone._

 

.

 

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“That was you?” Kyungsoo asked. His eyes were shiny with unshed tears.

 

Tao nodded.

 

“Why did you change so much?”

 

“Because I care,” he answered simply, without a moment’s hesitation. “Because the world is better with you in it. I… I wanted to save you.”

 

Sehun looked over at Chanyeol, alive from across the room. The anguish he felt was still prominent in his chest. Tears threatened to spill over from the emotions he felt in the fucked up future that he saw. Chanyeol was facing away from him, but he was looking at Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo stared back, he could see the emotions swirling in his eyes. Was it pain? Regret?

 

Sehun didn’t want to believe that Kyungsoo was cruel enough to kill anyone. He brought a hand up to his neck, remembering but not remembering the way that Kyungsoo squeezed at his throat in his anger.

 

He wanted so badly to believe that Kyungsoo wasn’t a bad person. He had shown Sehun nothing but kindness ever since they met on Sehun’s first day.

 

Everyone is capable of good and evil, Professor Logan had told him once. Everyone had the capacity for both. It was human nature. But it was often things that were out of our control that pushed people one way or the other, yet the choice to

 

Certain events pushed even the good intentioned over the edge. It was unsurprising that Wonyoung’s death was the thing that pushed Kyungsoo.

 

He spied a look at Junmyeon, who met his gaze. He knew that if it came down to it, his brother’s death would have led him down the same path Kyungsoo was on. In that future that wasn’t.

 

“Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol called out, catching Sehun’s attention. He saw Kyungsoo’s back as he left the room. Chanyeol sighed and moved to follow. But halfway through, he stopped and turned his head.

 

Sehun caught his gaze and Sehun could feel his heart pound in his chest. He saw the familiar look of hopefulness in Chanyeol’s big eyes.

 

He opened his mouth to say something, but the words—whatever they were—caught in his throat. Chanyeol’s expression changed once more. Downcast. Disappointed. Things unsaid.

 

They always went unsaid. Why was it so hard to articulate how he felt? How he feels?

 

Chanyeol shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’ll go talk to him,” he mumbled, walking out the door. No one else said anything. The whoosh of the door opening and closing the only noise in the room.

 

Junmyeon sighed, “This is a lot to process.”

 

“Yeah, no shit,” Yifan spat. “We should figure out what exactly we’re dealing with.”

 

Junmyeon nodded. “How long until the asteroid hits?”

 

Tao pressed his lips together, “Two weeks.”

 

“You had years to tell us this, Tao.”

 

“I… I wasn’t ready. Too early and it would have caused panic. Too late and we wouldn’t have time to prepare.”

 

“How exactly do we prepare for something like this?” Jongin asked.

 

“I’ll help,” Scarlet Witch piped up.

 

Everyone left the room except for Sehun and Tao. Sehun put his head on the table and took a deep breath. He tried to shake off the feeling of being off-kilter. Yet, as he sat down he felt that the world was still spinning.

 

This was a goddamn mess.

 

“There were things that shouldn’t have changed, like Chanyeol and Luhan dying. But I knew that I had to put some things into motion in order to change it,” Tao explained.

 

Sehun nodded, numb. It felt like moments ago when he had held Chanyeol’s dead body in his arms. He could still feel the weight in his hands.

 

“There are also things that wee inevitable. Things that happened no matter what tampering we did. Us meeting and becoming EXO. Baekhyun being a lightweight.” Tao put a hand on Sehun’s shoulder. “You and Chanyeol.”

 

“There is no me and Chanyeol,” Sehun mumbled. “Not now, anyway. Not this time.”

 

And it was probably true. He had spent so long trying to push Chanyeol away and not allowing him to get close. Now it seemed that they would never achieve the same level of closeness that they had in that future that he saw. He craved that closeness, suddenly. He longed to have Chanyeol’s arms around him and be enveloped by his warmth. He was jealous of himself. A different version of him got to be close to Chanyeol in a way he didn’t allow himself to in this timeline.

 

“It was probably my fault,” Tao said, mumbling against Sehun’s shoulder.

 

“What do you mean?” Sehun asked.

 

“I pushed you guys to get close too early,” his friend sighed. “And you ended up pushing him away because of it. I regret it.”

 

Sehun tilted his had at his friend, curiously.

 

"You met him in the courtyard in the middle of the night. The night before you started your first day."

 

"Wait. What? I never told anyone that. The only person that knew was Kyungsoo."

 

"Don't you think it's weird that your first instinct was to go to that certain place?” Tao asked, his eyes shifting from Sehun to the table. “That your legs carried you there?"

 

Sehun’s eyes widened. "That was you?"

 

"Wanda planted the idea in your head," Tao admitted.

 

Sehun’s head was starting to hurt with these new revelations. "Why would you do that?"

 

"I didn’t know if this would work. It still wouldn’t. And you two loved each other so much. I wanted to give you more time. More time to love each other. But I guess it fucking backfired huh?"

 

"I understand if you're mad at me."

 

"I should be furious,” Sehun admitted, but his monotonous voice was contradictory to the words that he used. “But I’m not. I just feel like an idiot."

 

The two friends sat in the hallway for a few moments, silence between them as they took in their new reality.

 

“Is it weird that I miss him?” Sehun asked, tears welling in his eyes. “I want that closeness so badly.”

 

“Then why won’t you get it?”

 

“It’s too late!” Sehun exclaimed. “I wasted too much time. There’s no way he could see me like that now.”

 

“How are you so sure?” Tao asked, tilting his head curiously.

 

“He…” Sehun trailed off, sighing. “I never took the chance to get close to him. And he’s given me enough chances.”

 

“But Chanyeol is Chanyeol,” Tao explained. “If he decides he likes you, he’s never gonna go away. He came back because you asked him to, didn’t he?”

 

And in his heart, Sehun knew it was the truth. He knew the capacity of Chanyeol’s affections and his continued niceness even through his constant shitiness.

 

Sehun stood up suddenly, knocking his chair over. He looked at Tao once more, and, now knowing what he was looking for, he couldn’t help but pity his friend. Having to go through life for a second time. Taking a chance on a plan that might not come to fruition. Going against his own personal beliefs in order to protect the ones he loved.

 

He gathered his friend in his arms, bringing him in to a tight hug. He buried his head into Tao’s shoulder.

 

“I wish you didn’t have to go through that, Taozi,” Sehun said, his voice was think with emotion. “But thank you. Thank you for everything.”

 

He felt Tao wrap his arms around him and reciprocate the hug. “I would do it again,” he mumbled, burying his head in Sehun’s shoulder. “You’re all my family now.”

 

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Sehun stopped when the door opened, revealing Chanyeol with red-rimmed eyes. He looked away as soon as their eyes met.

 

“Hey,” he croaked. “I managed to calm him down. He was pretty sha—”

 

Sehun pulled him down by the collar and brought him into a heated kiss.

 

There was something thrilling about kissing Chanyeol, something that made him see stars and fireworks at the same time. Chanyeol kissed like he did everything else in life, explosively, dynamically. It felt so familiar even though he knew that this was the first kiss that they ever shared.

 

The feeling in Sehun’s chest grew and grew and he could feel his heart wanting to burst with affection for this man. He wanted to know more about this love the him-from-another-timeline and Chanyeol from-another-timeline shared . The lingering glances, wanting to hold hands.

 

Getting to be the reason that Chanyeol smiled and laughed.

 

Sehun sighed into the kiss, savoring the feeling of Chanyeol’s lips on his. How could he have been so stubborn to not have fallen before? How could he have gone on without this happening>

 

He loathed to think about the possibilities, but here with Chanyeol, he found that he couldn’t think at all.

 

So Sehun let go, he let the world fall into nothingness and his universe consisted of him, Chanyeol, and this moment between them only.

 

“I love you.” He sighed, parting away from Chanyeol slightly to speaking before trying to dive back in again. He was stopped by a finger on his lips, he looked up to see the curious gaze of Park Chanyeol, a question pooling in his eyes.

 

“Not that I’m complaining, but where did this come from?” he asked.

 

Sehun hesitated. “You saw it, didn’t you? That vision that Tao and Scarlet Witch showed us. We were in love with each other. I love you.”

 

Then Chanyeol’s expression shifted. It changed from curiosity to a cold stone face. “Is that it?” he asked, his voice monotone.

 

Sehun furrowed his brows in confusion, “What else could it be? I wouldn’t just kiss you for no reason, you know.”

 

“But you don’t love me, Sehun,” Chanyeol said, teeth clenched. “Not really.”

 

“How could you say that? Didn’t you see it too?” Sehun said incredulously.

 

Chanyeol nodded, “But what we saw, those people weren’t us.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I mean, they were us, but not really us. They went through different shit than us. A version of you was in love in a version of me, but that doesn’t bleed into this version of us. In that timeline, I didn’t piss you off enough to get these gloves. In this timeline, Kyungsoo wasn’t angry enough to leave and I didn’t have to chase him. I didn’t have to leave so you didn’t realize your feelings for me so we didn’t have one third of an epic romance before I fucking died in your arms.”

 

Sehun stared at Chanyeol as his words got more and more frustrated the longer he went on with his speech. When he stopped both men looked at each other and stared each other down.

 

“Did I miss anything?” Chanyeol asked harshly.

 

Sehun shook his head. “You got all of it. But I still think you’re being an idiot.” He took a deep breath. “I know what I fucking feel, you dick. There’s no use in denying it especially since I saw it for myself. Just because everything hadn’t gone how it did before, it doesn’t mean that I feel any less or that I don’t feel love for you at all.”

 

Chanyeol hung his head, pressing the heel of his palm to his eyes. “You think you do, Sehun,” he said. “I’ve been in love with you for years. You don’t get to play with me like this.”

 

He looked up and Sehun could see that his eyes were red and that tears were beginning to leak from his eyes. Sehun felt panic starting to pile up in his chest. He never meant for this to happen. He stepped closer to Chanyeol, and when he made no move to reject the advance or move away he came closer and pressed a hand to the other man’s face. He used his thumb to wipe away Chanyeol’s tears.

 

“Chanyeol—please—please believe me,” he all but begged softly. It made Chanyeol give him a small sob in return. “I know what it’s like to have you die in my arms. I know what it’s like to have things unsaid so I’m saying them now. You feel it too, don’t you?”

 

Chanyeol sniffed and nodded. “I do. I do.”

 

Sehun pressed his lips together, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

Chanyeol huffed, “You really think you wouldn’t have freaked out if I told you that I was in love with you? It’s not like you had a good impression of me when you first transferred here.”

 

Sehun huffed, shaking his head. “I didn’t.” He linked his hands together with Chanyeol’s gloved ones. “You got these because I was mad at you. I called you a nuisance.”

 

Chanyeol snorted, “You weren’t wrong, though. I wasn’t as careful as I should have. They’ve helped me a lot.”

 

Sehun smiled sadly, “I still feel bad for being so harsh on you back then. We were all just stupid back then.”

 

Chanyeol squeezed their hands together, “You can make it up to me now.”

 

Sehun pressed his forehead on Chanyeol’s, his bangs were tickling Sehun’s face but he didn’t mind. He was just happy sharing the same space as Chanyeol finally after all this time.

 

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Sehun opened his eyes to see that he was face to face with a sleeping Chanyeol.

 

His hair was messy and his long eyelashes fluttered as he slept deeply. His mouth was open slightly and soft snores escaped. Sehun found himself smiling at the sight. His eyes trailed down Chanyeol’s face and down to his neck, where purple cruises had started to form. He flushed at the sight of them. He went a little crazy last night with their passionate lovemaking.

 

He scooted closer to Chanyeol and raked a hand through his lover’s messy dark hair. It illicit a soft moan and Chanyeol blinked at him, sleep still clouding his eyes.

 

“Morning,” Chanyeol mumbled, his voice deep.

 

“Morning,” Sehun answered, continuing his motions in Chanyeol’s hair. “I love you.”

 

Chanyeol, despite his tiredness, beamed at Sehun’s words. He raised a naked hand and brushed his fingertips against Sehun’s cheeks down to his lips. The touch of skin against skin made Sehun’s veins burn but in the best way.

 

“I love you,” Chanyeol said back. But his expression quickly turned somber. Melancholy. “Please don’t push me away anymore. Not when I finally have you. If you pushed me away again, I don’t think I can ever recover.”

 

Sehun shook his head and pulled Chanyeol closer to where their foreheads were touching. “I promise. I won’t push you away ever again.” He kissed Chanyeol deeply, despite the fact that he had morning breath. He didn’t care, his unchecked and ever growing feelings for the man in front of him was always in danger of overflowing.

 

But there were thoughts that he couldn’t shake. The uncertainty of what laid ahead of them. It crept into his thoughts even in this intimate moment. What if the future was the same in that alternate reality? What if, in the end, he would end up losing Chanyeol the same way?

 

He didn’t want to think about it, just spend whatever time they had together. Yet, he could picture the moment where Chanyeol died in his arms perfectly.

 

As if he was a mind reader, he was pulled in to Chanyeol’s broad chest. The warmth that radiated from his whole being covered Sehun and cocooned more than the actual blanket that was on top of them.

 

“I don’t want to have any more regrets,” Chanyeol murmured. “Even if nothing changes and…” Chanyeol gulped, “and I die. I want you to know that being with you, knowing you, even when it hurt. I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

 

Sehun wrapped his arms around Chanyeol and squeezed tight. He melted into the touch. “I wouldn’t change it for anything either.”

 

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Sehun squeezed Chanyeol’s hand. “I’m scared,” he admitted, under his breath that only Chanyeol could hear. It took everything in him to admit it. It didn’t necessarily mean that he doubted Tao and their ability to change the future, but there were still parts of Sehun’s mind that couldn’t escape the future that he had already seen. The way that Chanyeol had been limp in his arms and the way that life had left him. The bitterness in his mouth of words unsaid. The compounding loneliness and failure of not being able to protect the man that he loved.

 

He knew, now, the things that he could lose. He looked around at the rest of his team, the nervousness of their faces mirroring his own.

 

Because he knew the future, did that mean he had the power to change it? Or did that mean that history (or, in this case, the future) was doomed to play out in the exact same way?

 

It was the future that he saw, yes. A version of the future. One where he lost everything.

 

And as if sensing his thoughts, a touch on his chin made him look up. Right into Chanyeol’s eyes. They shined even in uncertainty, every bit in love that radiated from him like they were still in bed the morning after their love-making and not like they were on their way to certain doom. It was like seeing the sun after a long night. A dawn of a new day. A new beginning.

 

“It will be different this time,” Chanyeol said with conviction. And, after a few beats of silence, his head tilted to the side curiously at Sehun’s lack of response. “You believe me, right?”

 

Sehun grabbed on to those words and pulled them close to his chest. He held on to them. And would do everything in his power to make it come true. “How are you so sure?” he couldn’t help but ask.

 

Chanyeol smiled and brought their heads closer together until their foreheads were touching. Sehun could feel Chanyeol’s breath fanning over his face. Sehun closed his eyes against the sensation.

 

“Because we have each other now, really, truly. The way the other us in that other future didn’t have. I love you, you know? I—” Chanyeol gulped, his voice thick with emotion “—I love you. I will do everything in my power to keep loving you.”

 

Sehun’s heart wanted to burst out of his chest at the admission. The feelings that threatened to overflow materialized into the tears that spilled over his cheeks.

 

“I love you too,” Sehun whispered. He cradled Chanyeol’s face gently in his hands. “Let’s fight for our future.”

 

“We’re here,” announced Junmyeon, causing Chanyeol and Sehun to all but jump apart. Sehun could feel the plane descend and land on the ground. And his brother quirked an eyebrow at them, curious. Sehun merely shrugged, he would tell his brother later.

 

“Aw come on, I was in the middle of watching my favorite drama,” remarked Jongin, throwing them a teasing wink. Chanyeol turned red all the way to his ears, matching his uniform. Sehun snickered.

 

Junmyeon rolled his eyes, “Focus, you guys. We have a Brotherhood to stop and an asteroid to recover.”

 

Sehun looked to Chanyeol once more and found himself returning Chanyeol’s smile. The platform disengaged and started to lower. It looked like the Brotherhood had started without them.

 

Sehun took a deep breath and, side by side with the rest of his team, he stepped forward to greet the destruction.

 

No matter what the future held for them now, he had the intention of having it be the best one.

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Sehun couldn’t bring it in himself to let go, in the end.

 

“Sehun-ah,” Yixing said gently. He put a hand on Sehun’s, “You have to let m look at your injuries.”

 

Sehun shook his head, holding on tighter instead. “I can’t,” he whimpered. “I can’t.”

 

He felt another hand on his shoulder, he looked up to see Kyungsoo looking at him with unshed tears in his eyes. “It’s going to be okay, Sehun. Everything is going to be okay.”

 

Another hand, on his cheek, long fingers wiped away at the tears that fell. “Sehun-ah,” a voice said. “I’ll be right here, just let Yixing-hyung look at you, okay?”

 

He looked up to lock his eyes with a familiar pair of wide dark eyes. The eyes of the man he loved.

 

Park Chanyeol beamed, smiling his sunshine smile. And Sehun thought he looked perfect, even with a cut on his cheek and the darkening bruise on his jaw. Chanyeol was perfect, because he was alive.

 

And Sehun, he knew that he was being ridiculous. But whenever he thought about letting go, the sudden fear that this was all just a dream, that Chanyeol would disappear, would grip his heart like a vice. And in responce, his hands would just hold on tighter.

 

Tears were welling up in Sehun’s eyes. He was trying. He really was. “I can’t,” he admitted in a soft whimper.

 

It was a hard battle indeed. And there were a few close calls on both sides. But they made it just in time for the rest of the military to arrive and arrest the Brotherhood of Mutants. Including Scarlet Witch, much to Tao’s protest.

 

“You don’t have to do this,” Tao begged, as special handcuffs were placed on Wanda’s wrists. “You helped us, if you talked and bargained with them, I’m sure they’ll let you go or at least have a lighter sentence if you did.”

 

Wanda smiled sadly at Tao and shook her head. “This was our fault in the first place Tao. I had to atone for this sooner or later. I don’t regret this. Do you?”

 

Tao shook his head. “I don’t. I just wish it didn’t have to end up like this.”

 

“It was going to end up like this one way or another. I’m just glad that no one had to die this time,” she said. The two stared at each other for a moment before beefy men in uniforms grabbed ahold of her shoulders, waiting to escort her to the armored van that also housed the other members of the Brotherhood of Mutants. “Will you write to me, Tao? If they let you?”

 

Tao nodded, trying to hold in his tears, “I promise.”

 

Chanyeol pried Sehun’s hands from his arm and held one of his hands tight in his own. It left Sehun’s chest open for Yixing’s inspection. “We can be like this, yeah? Just let Yixing look at you.”

 

Sehun looked from their joined hands back up to Chanyeol eyes. He looked at Sehun as if he were something precious.

 

And suddenly, he was brought back to a memory that didn’t happen. Of sneaking out in the middle of the night and laying together on a blanket on the shore of Breakstone Lake. When they had their first kiss, instead of looking at the stars. Chanyeol looked at him like that back then. Like he was a star in the sky, burning brightly. He didn’t know what it was back then. In a life that wasn’t. But in this moment he knew that Chanyeol was looking at him with love.

 

Yixing sighed in relief, touching him on a spot on his ribs that looked (and felt) pretty bad. But in the end it didn't matter. 

 

Chanyeol was here, he was alive. And the best part was that he didn’t let go. Sehun wouldn't either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations! You made it to the end! Thank you for reading and enjoying this! Please remember to take the survey!! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I absolutely loved writing it!
> 
> I don't want to let go of this au TT but at least for right now I can say that it has an ending that is complete.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone who decided to give this monster a chance. A special thank you to my team on Team Alternate Universe 1! You're all amazing and having your support helped me finish this MONSTER. This is easily the longest fic I've ever written. 
> 
> And another thank you to Mod Koki. For making sure we stayed on track and being an all around amazing mod!


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